Mercedes-AMG REVEALS eTurbo electric turbo to eliminate turbo lag

Mercedes-AMG has teamed up with Garrett to deliver a new electric turbo solution – eTurbo – using 48v architecture to deliver lag-free boost.

With the odd exception, car makers have been busy in recent years downsizing engines to cut CO2 emissions, and fitting turbos to make up for the loss of cubic capacity.

That’s all fine and dandy in theory, but it means, if you have a thumping great turbo to deliver substantial boost, it takes a while for it to spin up and deliver power, which means the dreaded turbo lag where you seem to be waiting half an hour for the power to arrive, just when you need it most.

Of course, car makers can fit smaller turbos to reduce the lag, but that means delivering less boost, or things can get complicated by having a small turbo to kick things off and a bigger turbo to take over once it’s spinning fast enough. But that adds not just complexity, but cost.

There are other solutions – such as Audi’s electric turbos and Volvo’s PowerPulse – but all are quite complicated, or not as effective as you’d want, but now Mercedes-AMG has teamed up with Turbo experts Garrett to deliver a new way of doing things – the eTurbo.

The eTurbo uses technology developed in F1 and consists of a small, high power motor fitted in the turbo that spins the turbine as soon as throttle is applied – and promises to keep the turbo spinning even off-throttle- powered by the 48v architecture now finding its way in to mild hybrid cars.

Mercedes-AMG aren’t saying where in the Mercedes and AMG model range the new eTurbo will be used, but its application could be very widespread.