The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive has taken 7-minutes and 56.2-seconds to get round the world-famous Nürburgring Nordschleife, thereby claiming the lap record for the fastest production electric car. This record is only for ‘production cars’ although it’s still a little blurry as to whether the SLS AMG Electric Drive should actually qualify as a production car, right now at least, courtesy of its hefty £350 000 (roughly R5.2 million) price tag
The record-setting lap also marked the first time in history that a regular production electric vehicle has broken the eight-minute barrier at the famed track. Toyota still rightfully holds the overall EV lap record at the Nurburgring, thanks to a 7-minute and 22-second lap time in the automaker’s TMG EV P002 prototype racing car, and that Le Mans competing car most certainly isn’t a production car.
Other manufacturers who might be watching the progress of Mercedes-Benz and their SLS AMG Electric Drive, we imagine, would be Audi and their R8 E-tron. Audi previously held the EV lap record title thanks to an 8-minute and 9-second lap time.
Although that time is 12 seconds slower than the big, bright, Benz; the standard 6.2-litre petrol V8 version of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG gets round 12 seconds faster than even the EV, doing a 7-minute and 44-second time, and it makes nice noises and it costs more than half as much.
“Mercedes-AMG impressively shows the potential of the SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive with the new record on the Nürburgring Nordschleife,” said Ola Källenius, Chairman of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. “Mercedes-AMG is the first vehicle manufacturer which makes it possible to circle the Nordschleife in under eight minutes with an electrically-powered series production vehicle. This record run is another proof for our constant innovative vigour,” the Chairman concluded.
