2024 Mercedes-AMG SL 63 S E Performance First Drive: Merc's Most Powerful Roadster

• The seventh-generation Mercedes SL gains a plug-in hybrid powertrain for 2025.
• This is the most powerful and quickest SL ever produced.
• Expect prices to start at around $200,000.

The electric motor is mounted at the rear axle and gets its power from a 4.8-kWh battery pack located in the SL's trunk. The E Performance designation means this is a plug-in hybrid, so you can pop open the charging port on the rear bumper to recharge the battery from an outlet or charging station. Like other plug-in hybrids, the E Performance can drive on electricity alone for short distances. But I do mean short. Mercedes hasn't announced range for the U.S.-market model, but the car gets less than 10 miles of range using the European calculations. That's not much, but Mercedes admits that the hybrid system is mainly there for performance, not efficiency.

Driving AMG's most powerful convertible

My time in the latest SL variant was brief but very sweet, driving a short but winding road loop in Germany near Mercedes' proving grounds in Immendingen. It's the same area where I drove the new GT 63 E Performance, featuring stretches of pristine asphalt winding through the German countryside. The SL and GT coupe ride on the same AMG-developed platform, with the former essentially a convertible version of the latter. Given the AMG heritage, it's no surprise that there are no non-AMG versions of the seventh-generation SL.

Power is immediate and fierce. The electric motor supplies instant head-snapping amounts of torque from a stop. Mercedes quotes a 2.8-second 0-to-60-mph time for the E Performance, half a second quicker than the 3.3-second estimate for the non-hybrid SL 63. I think that Mercedes might be a little conservative with its estimates given that an SL 63 Edmunds recently tested was actually quicker than Mercedes' own data.

The M177 engine — also found in cars like the Mercedes-AMG S 63 E Performance and Aston Martin Vantage V8 — howls at full throttle, cracking and burbling with each upshift. The nine-speed auto is quick when you need it but smooth-shifting when you're just cruising. Given a long enough road, the SL 63 E Performance tops out at 196 mph.

Although they ride on the same platform, the SL and GT coupe are tuned a bit differently, with the former's suspension a bit softer and more compliant on the street. Both cars use active suspension and active anti-roll bars, but the tuning for the SL mutes out more bumps and imperfections than the GT coupe. Honestly, I actually preferred the SL's more relaxed ride to the GT's, though the latter certainly feels comparatively sportier when driven hard. And soft is a relative term, especially given how well the active anti-roll bars keep body motions in check.

While I appreciate the extra oomph supplied by the E Performance hybrid setup, where the SL really shined was in fully electric mode. Dropping the top and driving in EL (one of several of the SL's adjustable drive modes) was supremely relaxing. I love the sound of AMG's V8s, but cruising along through Germany with no noise but the wind and the radio was something else entirely.

Edmunds says

The Mercedes-AMG SL 63 S E Performance is the most powerful and best-driving SL to date. The fact that it does double duty as a relaxed electric cruiser is a bonus. With a base price upward of $200,000, the latest SL isn't cheap, but there's nothing else quite like it on the road today. I'm eagerly awaiting the day when Mercedes decides to build an all-electric SL. We need more electric roadsters.