The electric SLS has enough battery power to equate to 525bhp

AMG boss Volker Mornhinweg has revealed to evo that the all-electric SLS AMG project is ahead of schedule. Volker said he would be driving the car imminently. He also revealed an earlier on-sale date. The plan now is for the car to appear in showrooms in 2013.

As you might expect, the electric SLS is a technical tour de force, being powered by four separate ‘torque- vectoring’ electric motors with enough battery power to equate to 525bhp and 649lb ft of torque.

Rather than using in-hub electric motors (as Audi is planning on its own electric supercar, the e-tron), Mercedes has mounted the individual motors in pairs in the centre of each axle to keep un-sprung weight as low as possible.?Performance is stunning, with a claimed 0-100kph time of 4sec and a range of 180km, despite the car having a kerb weight of 1900kg, nearly 300kg heavier than today’s petrol equivalent.

On-road testing will now start in earnest but Mercedes is confident it will meet all the engineering projections, with Mornhinweg emphasising this must be an exciting car to drive and not one designed simply to please environmentalists. Meanwhile, Audi’s remarkable e-tron is on course for production in 2012. Read next month’s evo for a full report.?