One way or the other we’re already midway by way of 2024, and the automotive world is chugging alongside in the direction of electrification. Just about each automaker provides a number of absolutely electrical and hybrid fashions at this level, however there’s a definite lack of plug-in variations of 1 specific physique model: Convertibles. Other than just a few mid-engine supercars, virtually no manufacturers will promote you a convertible with something past a easy 48-volt hybrid system. Mercedes is altering that with the 2025 Mercedes-AMG SL63 S E Efficiency, a plug-in-hybrid roadster with an extended identify and the efficiency to again it up.
Full disclosure: Mercedes flew me to Stuttgart, Germany to spend just a few days driving the GT63 and SL63 PHEVs and driving alongside within the GT63 Professional. We stayed at some very good resorts, and Mercedes put me up in a resort in Amsterdam for 2 nights when the Crowdstrike outage canceled my flight house.
Beneath the pores and skin the SL63 S E Efficiency is mainly equivalent to the GT63 S E Efficiency. (For an much more in-depth tackle this powertrain, learn that evaluation.) It pairs a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 engine over the entrance axle with an electrical motor and battery pack mounted on the rear axle. By itself the engine makes 603 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque, 26 hp and 37 lb-ft greater than the usual SL63’s V8. The electrical motor places out 201 hp and 236 lb-ft, with juice offered by the 6.1-kWh battery (of which 4.8 kWh is usable), and the motor can act instantly on the driveshaft to energy all 4 wheels. That 400-volt battery has a direct-cooling system that includes liquid that flows round all the cells to chill them individually, so the pack is all the time at optimum temperature.
Add up all the powertrain’s elements and also you’ve acquired a mega 805 horsepower and 1,047 lb-ft of torque. Mercedes estimates the SL63 S E Efficiency will attain 60 mph from a cease in simply 2.8 seconds and go on to a high velocity of 196 mph, making it each the quickest and quickest SL ever made. (These figures are solely 0.1 second and three mph off the GT, too.) It definitely feels that fast in follow; launch management is much less brutal than within the gas-only SL, delivering an enormous surge of torque that by no means lets up. It’s an exceptional powertrain, with fast response and robust acceleration regardless of the velocity or state of affairs.
When the battery is absolutely charged the SL63 S E Efficiency could have an electrical vary of round 8 miles. In a world the place different plug-in hybrids have EV-only ranges of upwards of 40 miles — together with from Mercedes — that sounds low, even after listening to AMG engineers speak about how this powertrain is basically about efficiency, not effectivity. In the true world, although, the automotive’s vary is far better.
In Sport mode, however particularly the Sport+ and Race modes, the battery is all the time getting charged up as rapidly as potential utilizing the engine, belt generator and rear axle. The battery might be absolutely replenished in just some minutes of regular driving, and the quicker you go and tougher you drive, the faster it’ll fill again up. In these performance-oriented drive modes the automotive remains to be utilizing that battery juice and electrical motor to assist the engine in delivering most energy, and but the battery’s cost hardly ever dips.
Twist the drive mode knob into Consolation and the SL makes use of electrical energy for as lengthy and as typically as potential, however it received’t deplete the battery previous about 25 %. Even then, the automotive nonetheless turns off the engine as a lot as it could actually, and the operation is so seamless that I can barely inform when the engine kicks in. There’s an Electrical drive mode too, which retains the engine off till the battery runs out, until you hit the kickdown level within the accelerator at which level the engine will kick in and the automotive robotically switches to Consolation. The electrical motor can produce 94 hp of steady output or the total 201 hp in peak conditions, which is greater than sufficient for around-town driving, and the SL will attain above 80 mph in Electrical mode.
With the material roof stowed, which takes simply 15 seconds and might be completed at as much as 37 mph, the plug-in-hybrid system provides an entire new dimension to the SL that you simply don’t get within the GT. Snaking by way of quiet cities below electrical energy is great. Simply peeved Germans simply see the SL and smile because it silently glides previous; if this had been a standard SL63, they’d be scowling on the V8’s pointless noise at low speeds, which is doubly embarrassing with the highest down. It begins up silently as effectively, utilizing solely battery energy when the automotive is first turned on. As somebody who hardly ever drives with the home windows down not to mention with convertible tops retracted, the EV operation made me truly wish to drive the SL63 as a convertible. On the good nation roads round Mercedes’ Immendingen take a look at facility, I can higher hear the birds and scent the roses. With the ability to glide round city silently makes it even higher after I do wish to swap it into Race mode and convey that beautiful V8 to life.
And man, is it good in Race mode. The plug-in powertrain is tremendous responsive and entertaining to rev out, and the V8 sounds superior, with natural bangs and burbles. The SL’s dealing with is extra playful than the GT’s, significantly when accelerating out of a nook the place the automotive is a little more squirrely and happier to kick the tail out a bit. Energetic hydraulic suspension with anti-roll stabilization retains the automotive flat by way of corners, and rear-axle steering makes the dealing with extra nimble than its near-5,000-pound weight would recommend.
One draw back with Race mode is that you simply’re restricted to one of many softer regenerative braking settings. In any of the opposite modes, Electrical included, the SL63 provides 4 ranges of regen from none in any respect to one-pedal driving that may almost deliver the automotive to finish cease. (Above 65-percent battery cost the one-pedal mode is disabled, too.) It’s straightforward to get used to the sturdy regen, and the operation is linear even when going quick within the twisties — the transmission will even downshift aggressively when decelerating simply utilizing regen. The regen is mixed in regular driving, however if you happen to actually stomp on the brake pedal the automotive depends on its large carbon-ceramic friction brakes.
I have to give a significant shoutout to the spec of the SL I drove. Since its introduction in 2021 the brand new SL has all the time been accessible in some cool manufacturing unit colours, however now Mercedes’ Manufaktur program provides a bunch of latest colours and fancier inside choices. This one is painted in Eire Mid Inexperienced Magno, a satin-finish shade that’s beautiful within the daylight and made even higher when paired with all the chrome exterior trim. A Manufaktur inside package deal covers extra surfaces in coloured leather-based, together with the steering wheel, and you’ll lastly get wooden trim.
When the SL63 S E Efficiency reaches U.S. sellers later this summer time it’s going to begin at $208,150 (together with $1,150 vacation spot), a premium of precisely $20,000 over the traditional SL63. The PHEV is price that improve to me, particularly if you happen to can plug in at house or dwell within the metropolis. It doesn’t have a lot competitors, both. A brand new Porsche 911 Carrera GTS T-Hybrid prices $180,195 (add $7,800 for AWD), although add any choices and that rises quick. The 911 is a extra pure sports activities automotive however with none electric-only vary or plug-in functionality. Maserati’s absolutely electrical GranCabrio Folgore begins at $206,995, and whereas Andy says it’s actually good, it’s a unique proposition from the V8-equipped SL.
The most important foil to the SL might be the facelifted Bentley Continental GT Velocity, which has a PHEV setup with a V8 and 50 miles of electrical vary, although it’ll certainly be much more cash when it goes on sale later this. For now, if you need a droptop with an engine up entrance and a few EV vary, the 2025 Mercedes-AMG SL63 S E Efficiency is your automotive. Fortunately it’s one.
