Mercedes-AMG Is Building Its Own Electric SUV

Well, this was fairly inevitable, wasn’t it? AMG is working on its very own high-performance SUV, which will bear no relation to any existing Merc

Mike Bartholomew

07 Nov 2024

Currently, Mercedes has no fewer than 11 separate SUVs in its range – 13, if you include the inexplicable ‘Coupe’ versions of the GLC and GLE. Soon, there’ll be another, but there’ll be a bit of a difference, because this one’s being developed wholesale by Mercedes-AMG.

If ‘AMG’ still makes you think of tyre-smoking V8 coupes and the notion of a standalone AMG SUV is a bit difficult for you to digest, then we hope you’re sitting down: it’s also going to be electric.

It’s being developed on the new AMG.EA underpinnings, an EV platform specifically designed for high-performance applications, which is also the basis for AMG’s first standalone EV – a low-slung four-door set to replace the current AMG GT 4 Door.

The electric makeup will include compact, power-dense axial-flux motors and a new high-voltage battery designed specifically for performance applications.

While the four-door is due to debut in 2025, Mercedes says testing of the SUV is due to kick off this winter, so a 2026 debut is more likely. That’s about all we have so far beyond the sketch above, showing some beefy haunches and a relatively low-cut roofline.

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'.”

Despite having these bespoke EVs in the works, 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.