Mercedes-AMG looks to reinvent itself ahead of electric push

Mercedes-AMG looking at how to develop performance versions of Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles — and the brand’s director of vehicle development, Drummond Jacoy, has said it will have to reinvent itself as a result.

Mercedes-AMG is already working on a number of hybrid projects, including the Formula-1-powertrain-derived Project One hypercar and the GT Concept that was unveiled at this year’s Geneva motor show. The firm has also previously developed a pure-electric SLS.

“It’s obvious we’re not going to make the world happy with V8s for the next 200 years, and AMG has shown in the past, with the electric SLS years ago, that it has capabilities in all-electric drive,” said Jacoy. “That was a very impressive vehicle for its time and we’ve nurtured that technology and the learning we have from hybrid vehicles.”

Jacoy believes a unique aspect of Mercedes-AMG is that it is involved with the development of new Mercedes road cars from the start, ensuring they have the capability to be adapted into performance cars.

He said this approach is being applied to Mercedes’ all-electric range. “As soon as Mercedes starts a car, we’ll look at what we can do,” Jacoy said. “We’ll have to reinvent ourselves there [with electric cars], obviously, because the sound of a V8 is not going to be there if it’s a pure-electric vehicle. It’s not starting from scratch, but we’re going to have to look at what the AMG story is with an electric vehicle. But we’re working on that.”