Mercedes-AMG bespoke EV to rival Taycan

Sporty electric four-door saloon will arrive in 2025 with cutting-edge battery tech

- GREG KABLE

Mercedes-AMG has previewed its plans for a new stand-alone electric performance saloon to rival the Porsche Taycan with the unveiling of the Vision AMG.

The production version, due in 2025, will be the first AMG model to use the company's dedicated AMG.EA electric car platform - a structure conceived around a compact battery designed to allow a lower and more sporting shape than that permitted by Mercedes-Benz's existing EVA electric car platform, as used by the EQS and EQE saloons.

"We've taken full advantage of the new platform in both the design and proportions," said Robert Lesnik, head of Mercedes-Benz exterior design. "The Vision AMG shows what we are planning: a low and sleek saloon with outstanding aerodynamics and the space to accommodate four adults in comfort."

The car draws heavily on the distinctive lines of the wind-cheating Vision EQXX - the saloon concept that recently established new levels of efficiency in a 626-mile development drive from Stuttgart to Nice - with a low-set front, heavily curved roofline and ducktail rear spoiler. Key exterior design elements for the Vision AMG, which features a colour scheme similar to Mercedes-AMG's 2022 F1 race car, include a blanked-off version of AMG's signature Panamericana grille with frame and an illuminated 10 vertical bars.

Lesnik said: "Without the concerns of packaging an internal combustion engine within the front end, we've been able to make the bonnet very low and add greater volume to the fenders. The AMG.EA platform gives us lots of freedom in terms of design." Accentuating the sporting lines is an extended bonnet, comparatively low cowl, heavily raked windscreen, shallow, tapered glasshouse and plunging roofline.

Headlights preview a new star motif that will be used to distinguish new AMG models.