Mercedes-AMG is set to bring its first plug-in hybrid model to India next month. The car in question is the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance, the performance brand’s first high-performance plug-in hybrid. The AMG PHEV will be launched in India on April 11, 2023.
Starting with the looks, there is little to tell the PHEV apart from the standard AMG GT 4-Door which first arrived in India in 2020. It gets revised wheel designs, new badging and revised bumpers with the overall profile unchanged. The biggest changes however come under the sleek four-door coupe bodywork. To begin with, the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 now comes paired with an electric motor mounted to the rear axle boosting performance to 831 bhp and up to 1,470 Nm of peak torque. The combined output makes the GT 63 S E Performance the most powerful road car to come from AMG - outside of the limited-run One.
The petrol V8 is good for 630 bhp and 900 Nm and is paired to a 9-speed automatic gearbox while with the electric motor is rated at 201 bhp and up to 320 Nm. The result is a supercar-rivaling 0-100 kmph time of 2.9 seconds and a 316 kmph top speed. Uniquely, in EV mode, the 4Matic+ all-wheel drive system of the vehicle even allows the rear-axle-mounted motor to send power to the front wheels via the prop shaft should the vehicle detect too much rear-wheel slip.
The electric motor comes paired with a 6.1 kWh battery pack that is good for about 12 km of EV-only driving. Mercedes-AMG, however, says that in EV mode alone the car can hit speeds of up to 130 kmph with the battery pack engineered to offer the highest output possible instead of maximising range.
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Inside, the cabin design is familiar to most new Mercedes with twin 12.4-inch displays sitting atop the dashboard housing the digital instrument cluster and central touchscreen. The cabin meanwhile is decked out in AMG-specific elements such as the AMG steering wheel, sports seats and sportier interior fabrics and trims.
In terms of rivals, the AMG GT 63 S E Performance will go up against the likes of the Panamera Turbo S e-Hybrid.
