One way or the other we’re already midway by 2024, and the automotive world is chugging alongside in direction of electrification. Just about each automaker gives a number of absolutely electrical and hybrid fashions at this level, however there’s a definite lack of plug-in variations of 1 explicit physique type: Convertibles. Except for a number of 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 title and the efficiency to again it up.
Full disclosure: Mercedes flew me to Stuttgart, Germany to spend a number of days driving the GT63 and SL63 PHEVs and driving alongside within the GT63 Professional. We stayed at some very good inns, and Mercedes put me up in a resort in Amsterdam for 2 nights when the Crowdstrike outage canceled my flight dwelling.
Beneath the pores and skin the SL63 S E Efficiency is mainly an identical to the GT63 S E Efficiency. (For an much more in-depth tackle this powertrain, learn that assessment.) 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 supplied 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 the entire cells to chill them individually, so the pack is all the time at optimum temperature.
Add up the entire powertrain’s parts and also you’ve received 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 prime 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 observe; launch management is much less brutal than within the gas-only SL, delivering a large surge of torque that by no means lets up. It’s an exceptional powertrain, with quick response and powerful acceleration irrespective of the velocity or scenario.
When the battery is absolutely charged the SL63 S E Efficiency can 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 de facto about efficiency, not effectivity. In the true world, although, the automobile’s vary is way higher.
In Sport mode, however particularly the Sport+ and Race modes, the battery is all the time getting charged up as rapidly as doable utilizing the engine, belt generator and rear axle. The battery could be absolutely replenished in only a few minutes of regular driving, and the sooner you go and more durable you drive, the faster it’ll fill again up. In these performance-oriented drive modes the automobile continues to be utilizing that battery juice and electrical motor to assist the engine in delivering most energy, and but the battery’s cost not often dips.
Twist the drive mode knob into Consolation and the SL makes use of electrical energy for as lengthy and as typically as doable, however it received’t deplete the battery previous about 25 p.c. Even then, the automobile nonetheless turns off the engine as a lot as it could possibly, 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, except you hit the kickdown level within the accelerator at which level the engine will kick in and the automobile mechanically switches to Consolation. The electrical motor can produce 94 hp of steady output or the complete 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 could be achieved at as much as 37 mph, the plug-in-hybrid system provides a complete new dimension to the SL that you simply don’t get within the GT. Snaking by quiet cities underneath electrical energy is fantastic. Simply peeved Germans simply see the SL and smile because it silently glides previous; if this have 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 nicely, utilizing solely battery energy when the automobile is first turned on. As somebody who not often drives with the home windows down not to mention with convertible tops retracted, the EV operation made me truly need to drive the SL63 as a convertible. On the great nation roads round Mercedes’ Immendingen check facility, I can higher hear the birds and scent the roses. Having the ability to glide round city silently makes it even higher once I do need to change it into Race mode and produce that pretty 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, notably when accelerating out of a nook the place the automobile is a little more squirrely and happier to kick the tail out a bit. Lively hydraulic suspension with anti-roll stabilization retains the automobile flat by corners, and rear-axle steering makes the dealing with extra nimble than its near-5,000-pound weight would counsel.
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 gives 4 ranges of regen from none in any respect to one-pedal driving that may practically carry the automobile to finish cease. (Above 65-percent battery cost the one-pedal mode is disabled, too.) It’s simple 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 automobile 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 facility colours, however now Mercedes’ Manufaktur program gives a bunch of latest colours and fancier inside choices. This one is painted in Eire Mid Inexperienced Magno, a satin-finish shade that’s gorgeous within the daylight and made even higher when paired with the entire chrome exterior trim. A Manufaktur inside bundle covers extra surfaces in coloured leather-based, together with the steering wheel, and you may 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 conventional SL63. The PHEV is price that improve to me, particularly if you happen to can plug in at dwelling or stay 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 automobile 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 distinct 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’d like a droptop with an engine up entrance and a few EV vary, the 2025 Mercedes-AMG SL63 S E Efficiency is your automobile. Fortunately it’s one.
