Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive sets Nurburgring production EV record

The electric Mercedes SLS – the SLS AMG ED – has set a new lap record at the Nurburgring for an electric production car of 7m 55s.

Photo Mercedes SLS AMG ED at Nurburgring

The Mercedes SLS AMG ED (pictured) set a new EV lap record at the Nurburgring

Just as Audi decides that the R8 e-Tron isn’t a production viable option, Mercedes decides to prove there is potential for electric cars at the very high end.

The Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive has been to the Nurburgring and set a new lap record for a production electric car of just 7 minutes 55 seconds.

The SLS AMG ED, which goes on sale very soon at more than £300k, may weigh a chunk more than a regular SLS (550kg more), but it gets plenty of help from its four electric motors – one at each corner – to overcome the weight of its batteries with 751bhp and 737lb/ft of torque on hand.

We’re assuming Mercedes didn’t remove the 155mph restrictor from the SLS ED, so it has the potential to knock a few seconds off its 7m55s time if run unrestricted, but it’s a remarkable time from an electric car weighing more than 2000kg.

In fact, the SLS ED’s time is within a whisker of the (unrestricted) Mercedes McLaren SLR’s Nurburgring lap time.

It’s a good bit of PR for both Mercedes and AMG just as the SLS ED is about to hit the market. Will it be enough to have buyers queuing up for an electric SLS? Perhaps.