Mercedes unwraps an electric sports car that sounds like a gas-guzzler

Mercedes-Benz Group AG unveiled an electric sports car designed to win over drivers still craving the sound and feel of a powerful combustion engine.

The Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé’s three electric motors propel the model to a top speed of 186 miles an hour. But the car also simulates gear shifts and reproduces the throaty soundtrack of a V8 engine, a move catering to buyers who have so far shunned the German manufacturer’s battery-powered models.

The strategy marks a break from the minimalist approach that defined Mercedes’s early EVs. It puts the company in more direct competition with Porsche AG and Ferrari NV, which are also trying to preserve the emotional pull that built their brands as the industry shifts away from combustion engines.

The launch comes at a delicate moment for Mercedes, which has been forced to scale back some of its electric ambitions after weak demand for its early EVs, including the G-Class sport utility vehicle and the flagship EQS sedan.

Its peers are confronting similar challenges. Porsche has tempered plans to rapidly electrify its lineup after weaker-than-expected demand for the Taycan and delays to battery-powered versions of the 718 Cayman and Boxster. Lamborghini has pushed back its first EV, highlighting how hard it has become for luxury-car makers to persuade petrolheads to part with the noise and physicality of combustion engines.

Mercedes is trying to answer that scepticism with a mix of technology and gadgetry. The AMG GT will use three axial-flux motors producing as much as 1,169 horsepower, and a Formula One-inspired 800-volt battery built to deliver peak performance. It also has a mode that simulates the sound and haptic gear changes of a V8 engine. The car can make the sprint from zero to 100 kilometres an hour in 2.1 seconds.

The compact motors, developed by Mercedes-owned Yasa, are lighter and more powerful than conventional ones, giving AMG a way to distinguish its EVs beyond the instant acceleration now common across the industry. The technology is already used in Ferrari’s SF90 and 296 GTB hybrids, and is prized for delivering higher torque in a smaller and lighter package than conventional radial motors. Ferrari will unveil the Luce, its first electric supercar, in Rome next week.

Mercedes did not disclose pricing for its new AMG models, saying only that they would be in line with predecessor vehicles. Current AMG GT Coupé models can cost more than €200 000 ($231 920) in Europe.

The car “pushes performance to new limits and delivers the emotion our fans expect — now in the electric era,” Chief Executive Officer Ola Källenius said in a statement.

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