The battery is said to provide a continuous and reliable delivery of performance in high-demand situations, with particular attention paid to improved cooling. It allows the car to travel eight miles on electricity alone but wasn’t developed to provide “the longest possible range”.
The driver can choose between eight driving modes: Electric, Battery Hold, Comfort, Smoothness, Sport, Sport Plus, Race and Individual. Each one adapts throttle response, gearchange ferocity, steering weight, sound and chassis damping.
Up to four levels of energy regeneration are available in each mode, allowing more than 100kW of power to be fed back into the battery.
When the car starts, it will be under electric power only, but inside the driver will hear a synthetic sound that mimics the V8 engine.
In its design, the car remains broadly the same as the standard SL 63 AMG but gains a charging flap on the rear bumper and red ‘E Performance’ badging on the boot and front fenders.
The PHEV also gets bespoke, aerodynamically optimised alloy wheels of 20in or 21in in diameter.
More aerodynamic touches can be found in the form of a carbonfibre front splitter, which extends downwards by 40mm at speeds above 50mph, and a ducktail rear spoiler that deploys at the same speed.