- AMG has got its hands on Mercedes’ smallest electric SUV, the GLA.
- The next GLA will be available with both electric and hybrid engines.
- Top-spec AMG versions could get a tri-motor setup and around 500 hp.
We’ve spilled a lot of pixels this year talking about AMG’s upcoming electric heavy hitters, its flagship SUV and Porsche Taycan-rivalling four-door GT. But behind the scenes, Mercedes’ hot rod division has been just as busy at the other end of the scale, turning up the wick on the new GLA EQ.
Related: Mercedes’ Entry-Level Crossover Is Getting An Electrifying Makeover
Built from the same basic platform and running gear as the new CLA sedan, CLA shooting brake, and soon-to-be-released GLB, next year’s GLA will be available in both hybrid and electric forms, and as an AMG, as these fresh spy shots confirm.
Taken outside Mercedes’ R&D center close to the Nurburgring, they give us our first look at AMG’s remix of the regular GLA with EQ Technology, which we last snapped back in August.
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Compared with that vanilla GLA, this one has bigger AMG-specific forged alloy wheels and a beefy set of monobloc brake calipers behind the front rims to help rein in what could be a huge power output.
Hardware and Horsepower
Though exact tech details are unconfirmed, we expect non-AMG GLAs to get the same dual-motor setup and all-wheel drive system as the CLA sedan.
That would mean 349 hp (354 PS / 260 kW) and 380 lb-ft (515 Nm) of torque. We’re likely to see an 85 kWh battery pack and a DC fast charging capability of up to 320 kW.
AMG GLA EQs due to hit showrooms in 2027 will also follow the template laid down by their sedan cousins, and it has been reported that the CLA 45 could deliver upwards of 500 hp (507 PS / 373 kW).
What’s even more intriguing is the same intel says the power will come via three electric motors to give the AMG models advanced torque vectoring capabilities and a drift mode.
Like the company’s upcoming super-GT, which was previewed by the GT XX concept, the little AMGs are in line to receive compact, lightweight motors from Britain’s Yasa, which is now owned by Mercedes.
Yasa recently boasted about one of its tiny 12.7 kg (28 lb) motors generating a peak of 1,006 hp (1,020 PS / 750 kW) during testing, setting a world record for power density.
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