AMG’s journey started with a V8, placed under the bonnet of a W108 S-Class, back in 1971. It has had a string of V8s ever since. The W124-based 500E started the production journey in 1990 and today we have the 4.0 twin-turbo V8, packaged along with a Formula 1-inspired plug-in hybrid system. And it’s this E-Performance V8 that will carry AMG forward far into the future, even past Euro 7 emissions norms (likely to be the last ICE norms for Europe).

Mercedes-AMG E-Performance V8 architecture 

The new hyper-potent powerplant features a peak torque of 1,470Nm and a 0-100kph time of 2.9sec. Known as a P3 type hybrid, the layout has a combined 843hp, a V8 up front and a rear axle that contains an electric motor with a two-speed transmission. Electric power is stored in a small 6.1kWh battery derived from Formula 1 tech. Constantly topped up by the engine on the move, the battery uses more than 560 cylindrical cells that are cooled at twice the speed of a regular battery and runs a lively 400-volt architecture for speedy transfer of electrons. External charging occurs at only 3.6kW and the small capacity battery means there’s no need for DC charging.

While the GT is the first, and the new AMG S-Class has an almost identical system, but with a larger 13.1kW battery for greater EV-only range, it won’t be the last. “We will make sure our V8s will be able to fulfil the newest regulations for combustion engines, so we will be able to sell them as long as customers want them,” says Jochen Hermann, CTO, Mercedes-AMG. 

Which cars could continue with the V8?

However, the smaller cars will be more difficult to package, and the additional hardware and costs will mean the cars will be considerably more expensive. The V8 C-Class is already dead. Both packaging and price were a huge challenge, and there will be other similarly compact and relatively affordable cars that will have to give up the V8. Still looking at the range top-down, the big GLS is likely to get a similar E-performance package and the GLE and GLE coupe could also go this way. This is also likely to be true of the G-Wagen or G Class and CLS four-door coupe.

The big question is, will the first and original AMG package – the E-Class – still carry on with a V8? Packaging will be a challenge here too, and boot space would be limited, but the real challenge will be the price. The E-Performance GT, for example, costs Rs 60 lakh more than the earlier, purely ICE GT in India, and that’s a massive jump even when you minus local taxes and duty. Sure, AMG will be able to lower the cost of the technology as it deploys it in more cars, and more work on this tech will also make it more affordable. Still, a V8-powered E-Performance E-Class will be a much more expensive car, and that could mean a limited edition or a special before we see a full-blown production version. AMG will, as ever, have to balance price, desirability and ever-stricter emissions regulations, but the good news is that the V8 will live on.