Mercedes-AMG announces large electric SUV based on AMG.EA platform

The AMG.EA platform – short for AMG Electric Architecture – is designed for the future performance models from Mercedes-AMG. It is already the basis for the Vision EQXX technology platform, which Mercedes-Benz presented for the first time at CES 2022. The EQXX is not a concrete harbinger of a production model – but is intended to provide a preview of a whole range of technologies that can make production vehicles more economical.

The e-SUV now announced with the working title ‘Born in Affalterbach’ is a different story: it is the first “SUV built from the ground up” in the 57-year history of the performance and sports car brand. The full-size off-roader will not only be the second model on the AMG.EA platform, but also the sixth vehicle to be created entirely by the performance specialists in Affalterbach (‘in addition to the first AMG.EA model already being trialled and after the current GT, the SL and the previous generation of the GT and the SLS’).

‘SUVs have been among our most popular models for many years,’ emphasises Michael Schiebe, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-AMG GmbH and Head of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class & Mercedes-Maybach divisions. ‘We are now recognising this development for the first time with an SUV ‘Born in Affalterbach’. In future, we will be offering our customers an absolutely fascinating high-performance off-roader based on the AMG.EA. The motto for our new high-performance platform is: ‘AMG First, EV Second’. This means that the vehicles will not only be outstanding EVs, but will also impress above all with classic AMG virtues such as emotion and performance.’

Details of the AMG.EA platform are not yet known. In previous statements, Mercedes-Benz has only stated that the future architecture will take on a pioneering technological role in many aspects and bring numerous innovations to the road. “For example, the AMG.EA drive concept is based on axial-flow engine technology, which is unrivalled in terms of power density, size and weight.” The company also wrote: “The innovative drive works in conjunction with a new high-performance high-voltage battery.”

Mercedes-Benz is already testing the Vision EQXX intensively. During an initial demonstration drive around four months after its unveiling, the technology carrier covered 1,008 kilometres on one battery charge in real road traffic – including a crossing of the Alps and in less than ideal external conditions. The maiden voyage led from Sindelfingen via the Swiss Alps and northern Italy to Cassis on the Côte d’Azur. In the end, the average consumption was 8.7 kWh per 100 kilometres.

Two months later, the Vision EQXX surpassed this mark on a second long-distance journey with slightly higher temperatures and a flatter route profile. The technology demonstrator drove 1,202 kilometres from Stuttgart to Silverstone in the UK on one battery charge – also at motorway speed. At the time, Mercedes-Benz put the consumption at 8.3 kWh/100 kilometres. This spring, the model then completed its third long-distance journey of more than 1,000 kilometres. This time it travelled through the Arabian Desert.

mercedes-benz.com, mercedes-benz.com (CLA, both in German)