Electrification not a threat for AMG but an opportunity: Jochen Hermann – Times of India

Based on the interaction conducted by Arpit Mahendra.
Over the past few years, we have witnessed the democratisation of fully electric and strong-hybrid vehicles across multiple segments. Today, Indians have access to both economical and high-end luxury cars that offer new and efficient drivetrains of the future. It is not just cleaner mobility that electrification is aiding but is also making supercars go faster and has made its way into legacy performance brands such as Mercedes-AMG. We recently drove the AMG GT 63 SE Performance, a 2.3-tonne luxury saloon that offers supercar performance thanks to its 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 combined combined with a Plug-in Hybrid electric motor and 6 kWh battery. If you think that due to its sheer weight and four doors, the GT 63 SE Performance would be a slouch, then we are here to tell you that the combined 839 hp and a massive torque figure of 1,470 Nm, propels this AMG from 0-100 kmph in just 2.9 seconds and gives it a top speed of 316 kmph. That’s the advantage of electrification and AMG is using it to deliver faster power delivery and not the longest-possible range.

In a recent conversation, Jochen Hermann, Chief Technical Officer, AMG, said that the future of AMG performance cars is both fully electric models and hybrid cars that will enhance the experience of driving an AMG. “We enhance the technology of a given existing Mercedes-Benz car and make it a real AMG. In the future, we will have our own AMG-specific pure electric architecture. We will have seven exclusive cars on the new AMG.EA platform.” Hermann said.
In a recent Reuters report, it was disclosed that Mercedes-Benz is taking the help of its Formula One team to develop electric cars that would challenge the likes of Tesla. During the conversation, Hermann said that high-performance batteries for AMG cars are directly derived from Formula One technology. These batteries have cylindrical cells that are directly cooled, “The reason for doing that, is to keep the temperature of each battery cell at a very precise level, in this case 45 degree Celsius. So each single battery cell is surrounded by a liquid and is cooled completely. This way, we can really drive that battery to its limit.”

The same Formula One derived battery cell technology and AMG’s P3 Hybrid architecture powers the GT 63 SE Performance. Then there is the Formula One energy recuperation technology. In general, it is time-consuming to recharge the batteries of a self-charging hybrid or PHEV, once it gets completely drained. However, the technology inside the GT 63 SE Performance comes directly from the AMG One hypercar. This means that the P3 Hybrid architecture in the AMGs, are capable of putting energy back into a drained cell via auxiliary systems such as brake regeneration at a much faster rate than normal. For clarity, Hermann added, “So, one important factor is the 150 kilowatt peak power, but really it is the 70 kilowatt of continuous power that is very important, and ours is the only battery technology where you can have such high continuous power. This is important for efficiency but also very important for long-term performance.”
While the benefits of electrification and Formula One cell technology certainly demand merit, what about AMG purists? Electrification is actively frowned upon among enthusiasts because it takes away the emotional factor of driving a performance car. While hybrids such as the GT 63 SE Performance are a middle-way with its V8 and electric motor, what about existing fully electric AMGs such as the EQS 53 4MATIC+ and the upcoming seven BEVs based on the AMG.EA platform? How does AMG expect to deliver the same experience and retain its customers when the world of mobility moves towards fully electric cars eventually?

To this, Hermann said, “We are not giving up on the combustion engine for Mercedes-AMG cars. Even with the newest regulations that are due to come up, we will make sure that our V8 engines will be able to fulfil the requirements. We know that in Europe, there will be Euro7 emission standards, which will probably be close to the China7 standards and to the latest requirements for the US market. Moreover, after Euro7 there will not be a Euro8 standard, We expect to be able to bring our V8 into the Euro 7 future. That ways in Europe at least, we will be able to sell the V8 engines as long as there is market demand. So, we are not giving up on that part of AMG.
But on the other hand, we also have a very strong path where we want to offer fully electric vehicles. If you talk to a hardcore petrol-head AMG fan today, they cannot imagine going electric, but as soon as people have driven the GT 63 SE Performance, they get out of the car and are amazed with its performance. This way, our traditional customers understand the story behind bringing Formula One technology into these cars and it helps them to learn that going into the future, electrification is just an additional performance lever.

Hermann wrapped up the conversation by saying that going electric is not a threat for AMG, it is rather an opportunity to bring in a better experience to its customers that is not possible in ICE-only AMG cars without an electric powertrain.