The eight-cylinder is still the same, the six-cylinder entry, and the new Mercedes-Benz G-class is on the market, which is still a familiar taste. The biggest difference is the pure electric G-class, Mercedes-Benz G580 open pre-sale. As Mercedes-Benz's first pure electric hard-core off-road SUV, it has the same G-class square box, a four-wheel motor, and supports a U-turn on the spot. The pre-sale price of 2.17 million yuan is stuck between the new G500 and AMG G63. Regardless of the technology or the price, everything is serious. As a traditional car boss, Mercedes-Benz will not have a moat when it comes to the scene, and the domestic off-road vehicle will have no moat?
A hardcore off-road vehicle that creates energy consumption close to that of a family car?
As the first Mercedes-Benz involved in the pure electric drive hard off-road SUV track, the first thing it encountered was range anxiety. Without any internal combustion engine (non-plug-in hybrid, extended range), and to continue the square box design of Mercedes-Benz G-class, the endurance pressure of Mercedes-Benz G580 this time can be regarded as full.
The stacked battery cells and double-layer layout make the Mercedes-Benz G580, which has a body length of just over 4.7 meters and a wheelbase of less than 2.9 meters, accommodate a 122kWh power battery. In addition to the previous 140kWh Kirin battery from CATL. The capacity of the Mercedes-Benz G580 battery is definitely the first echelon in the production car. However, the pure electric range of 571km (CLTC mode) does not only depend on the capacity of the stacked battery, but also reduces energy consumption.
4 drive motors, more than 3 tons of body weight. The Mercedes G580 does not look big in stature, and it is also a regular operation for a tool-type hard-core off-road SUV. However, the bearing pressure of the non-load-bearing body and the full set of three-electric systems is still online. According to official figures, the Mercedes-Benz G580 has an electric power consumption of 22.5kWh/100km. This is only about 4 kWh/100 km higher than the NIO ES8, which is positioned as a family passenger car.
If it is compared with a hard-core off-road SUV, the Mercedes-Benz G580 even has a certain energy consumption advantage. For example, although the U8 does not have official power consumption figures, it supports a pure electric range of up to 180 km (CLTC mode) with a 49 kWh battery. If you look at the pure electric battery life supported by the unit battery capacity, there is no doubt that the Mercedes-Benz G580 has more advantages. Of course, the U8 is larger and heavier (about 12%). If the current weight factor is added, it supports about 4.11 km of range per 1 kWh, compared to the Mercedes-Benz G580 of about 4.68 km per 1 kWh. After calculation, Mercedes-Benz G580 still has a power consumption advantage of about 13% in pure electric range.
Mercedes-Benz G580 has obvious advantages in power consumption, and it is obvious that the role of the gearbox is indispensable. Yes, BEVs can also be equipped with a gearbox. This has already been demonstrated in Porsche, Audi and other models. It's just that this time, the Mercedes-Benz G580, which has four motors, is equipped with a two-speed gearbox for each drive motor. So if we look back at the motor data of Mercedes-Benz G580, we will find some mysteries.
The Mercedes-Benz G580 has a single motor with a maximum power of 108kW and a maximum torque of 291Nm. The powertrain has a maximum power of 432 kW and a maximum torque of 1,164 Nm. Obviously, the torque of this set is quite abundant, and the absolute value of power is not eye-catching. Under the fuel vehicle system, this is a typical low-turn and high-torque style, and it is indeed the tuning that hard-core off-road SUVs like.
In the case of electric drives, the maximum torque can be generated at the beginning of the motor. Therefore, the motor with high torque will help more at low speeds. As for the high-speed working condition, the two-speed gearbox is handed over to the main solution to the problem of power consumption. At the same time, the more focused motor also helps to balance the size of the motor. This is also not negligible for a Mercedes-Benz G580 that needs to be equipped with four electric motors and a two-speed gearbox.
You don't need one lock, and the effect of getting out of trouble is better than three locks?
In addition to saving power, the gearbox is also an off-road configuration. This is actually similar to the gasoline car, the multi-speed transmission can not only save fuel, but also amplify torque in off-road. Due to the large torque and linear output of the motor itself, there is no need to provide too many forward gears like fuel vehicles to achieve a dense output effect. The Mercedes-Benz G580, as well as the aforementioned Porsche and Audi, are only offered in two gears. For the latter two, the two-speed gearbox focuses on endurance and reacceleration on high-speed paved roads. For the Mercedes-Benz G580, the two-speed gearbox is obviously for extreme off-road trouble.
The two-speed gearbox offers a 2:1 gear ratio, which means that the torque can be amplified by a further two times in low-speed off-road conditions. As mentioned earlier, the drive motor of the Mercedes-Benz G580 adjusts the torque quite a lot. The torque of 291Nm is almost catching up with the torque of the low-power version of the Mercedes-Benz M254 fuel 2.0T engine. And the torque of the motor can be said to be stepped on at the moment, and now it can be amplified twice the torque by the gearbox. From a technical point of view, it is completely possible to get the vehicle out of trouble with only a single motor. And the whole process of getting out of trouble does not need to fly with great force, but only needs to stabilize the direction at low speed.
As a result, the Mercedes-Benz G580 does not need a lock at all. Not to mention that in the traditional hard-core off-road SUV, the three locks are all status symbols. In practical application, there are no three locks, and there is really no way to achieve absolute control over the four wheels to get out of trouble independently. Even in new energy vehicles, if you want to get out of trouble, you can't get out of trouble, and differential locks are indispensable. Or take the U8 as an example, there are already four high-horsepower motors, and it is easy to make a U-turn on the spot. Want to solve the one-sided wheel of this big guy, or even the ability of a single wheel to get out of trouble. The U8 is equipped with a differential lock on the front and rear axles. When one side of the wheel loses adhesion, the torque of the two coaxial motors can be packed to the other side of the adhesion wheel through the differential lock. In fact, it also happens to double the torque.
However, the operation of the Mercedes-Benz G580 completely abandons the mechanical coupling between the two motors on the coaxial axis. That is, theoretically, the Mercedes-Benz G580 has realized that the four motors work completely independently, and they have nothing to do with each other. This of course helps the layout of the motor, the creation of the vehicle space, and also increases the pressure on the performance adjustment of the vehicle. But what is more important is Mercedes-Benz's preview of its own in-wheel motor loading.
The so-called in-wheel motor is the YASA axial flux motor installed by Mercedes-Benz in the Vision One-Eleven concept car. Before the Mercedes-Benz G580 finally landed, the call for the installation of four-wheel in-wheel motors was very high. Judging from the current actual car, the in-wheel motor has not yet reached the heat that can withstand the harsh working conditions of a hard-core off-road SUV. But the future of the technology after the fusion of the two is undoubted. The completely independent four-wheel motor, as well as the integrated two-speed gearbox, should be the main technical direction of Mercedes-Benz in the pure electric hard off-road SUV, as well as high-performance pure electric vehicles in the future.
Returning to the Mercedes-Benz G580, which has already started pre-sales, from a technical point of view, it is by no means a prospect for electrification. The low energy consumption under daily working conditions, the stable and high torque in extreme off-road scenarios, and the four independent motors that are fully loaded at one time have taken care of all aspects. Domestic off-road vehicles, if they want to achieve "corner overtaking" on the new energy track, it may take time.