Here’s Mercedes-AMG’s Electric Mega-SUV Testing

…and it gives us precisely zero idea what it might look like. Prototype camouflage is doing its job here

16 Dec 2024

If you’re the sort of person that thinks all Mercedes-AMG products should be saloons, coupes or estates equipped with eight cylinders and a constant roostertail of tyre smoke pouring from their posterior, we advise you to look away now.

Fresh from confirming that it’s working on a bespoke electric performance SUV, unrelated to any common-or-garden Mercedes, the Affalterbach-based performance division has released some shots of the car undergoing testing.

Yep, looks like… a big SUV. That’s about all we can tell for now because Merc’s done a rather good job of disguising the car. We can see evidence of the slightly frowny face previewed by 2022’s Vision AMG concept, itself a tease of the other standalone EV AMG is working on – a low-slung four-door fastback set to replace the current AMG GT 4 Door.

Both will sit on the new AMG.EA platform, specifically designed for high-performance applications. The electric makeup will include compact, power-dense axial-flux motors and a new high-voltage battery designed specifically for performance applications.

Mercedes-AMG chairman Michael Schiebe said: “SUVs have been among our most popular models for many years. With the 'Born in Affalterbach' SUV, we are responding to this trend by offering our customers a truly captivating high-performance off-roader based on the AMG.EA platform. Our new high-performance architecture follows a clear philosophy: 'AMG First, EV Second'.”

It may have these bespoke EVs in the works, but AMG isn’t totally done with its bread-and-butter V8s. Following the largely flat reception of the new four-pot hybrid C63, the upcoming CLE 63 coupe is widely expected to make a move back to pure V8 power. That’s despite Schiebe recently saying that AMG customers have traditionally been drawn to the brand for its technology, not its big engines.

The first full sentence spoken by an infant Mike was a review of the ride quality of a Volvo 850. It was “Daddy’s car goes bumpy-bump on a bumpy road,” so would probably need proofreading a bit, but it was a start.