Volvo and BMW are traditional players in the luxury marine business, but when it comes to Miami Vice-style speedboats, you just can't beat Mercedes-Benz. Now they've gone electric.
Mercedes-AMG and Miami-based Cigarette Racing have joined forces to create the world's most powerful electric speedboat, the Cigarette AMG Electric Drive Concept. The 38-foot-long boat sourced not only its "AMG Electricbeam magno" matte chrome paintwork from the SLS AMG Coupé Electric Drive, but most of its technology as well. Just like the production car itself, the boat is also the fastest in its category, with a top speed of 100 mph.
Twelve liquid-cooled permanent-magnet synchronous electric motors power the boat, devided into two two drive units, each featuring six independent electric motors and their own transmission. With each motor delivering 138 kW and 184 ft-lb, total output is a whopping 1656 kW (2,200 hp and 2,213 ft-lb), about three times as much as what the car has under the hood.
The AMG Coupé's liquid-cooled lithium-ion high-voltage battery features a modular design with a maximum voltage of 400 V. It consists of 12 modules each comprising 72 lithium-ion cells, an energy content of 60 Kilowatt hours, an electric load potential of 600 Kilowatts and a weight of 1208 pounds. The Cigarette however integrates four batteries with a total of 48 modules and 3456 cells which generate a total capacity of 240 Kilowatt hours and an electric output of 2400 Kilowatts. Two 22 Kilowatt on-board chargers are also built in with a charging capacity of 44 Kilowatts. With these, the battery is fully charged in approximately seven hours, but there's space for two extra chargers, which can halve the waiting time.
Don't worry! Thanks to the laws of physics, fish will most likely survive in case something goes wrong with this coke smuggler's green dream in action.
Photo credit: Mercedes-Benz