Mercedes-AMG is following up the new GT with a full-size SUV version, based on the same AMG.EA architecture.
Sitting right at the top of the performance tree, the Mercedes-AMG GT has long been a halo for the brand. Back in May, the automaker debuted the new and completely electric four-door coupe, and it’s following that up with something the AMG has never developed entirely in-house in its nearly 60-year history: a full-size SUV.
Essentially, what we’re looking at here is a larger, more full-bodied version of the next-gen AMG GT that debuted this summer. The SUV still rides on the same MB.EA architecture, has the same 119.7-inch wheelbase and roughly the same overall length, at 200.2 inches. This time around, though, the 2028 Mercedes-AMG GT SUV grows up to 78.8 inches wide and 65.2 inches tall, with that latter number being about 10 inches more than the four-door coupe’s roofline.
Like the AMG GT we’ve already seen, this SUV brings similar front and rear end styling, with the large faux grille, though this time there’s just a small slit between the headlights, instead of a full-width element that runs between the lights on the AMG GT coupe.
In profile, the obvious change is the much higher roofline, which Mercedes says gives the SUV “commanding presence” (I’ll let you be the judge on that one). The flush door handles are another through line looking at it from the side, though the SUV gets better ground clearance.
Inside, the 2028 Mercedes-AMG GT SUV gets a similar layout to its low-slung counterpart.
Step inside the SUV-ified AMG GT, and the interior layout is virtually identical to the four-door model. You get a flat-bottom AMG steering wheel, diamond-patterned leather on the door cars, well-bolstered seats and three driving control switches on the center console.
In the back, the SUV again diverges from the AMG GT four-door coupe, since you get far more generous headroom. The battery structure and resulting flat floor allow for better legroom than you’d get in something like a GLE, while the higher roofline pushes cargo space behind the rear seats up to 21.4 cubic feet. Up front, you also get an additional 2.8 cu. ft. of storage in the frunk.
The Mercedes-AMG GT offers up a larger battery option with up to 435 miles of range*.
For its battery construction, MB.EA vehicles use a cylindrical cell design, and that’s still the case with this SUV. One key difference here, though, is the availability of a larger 128-kWh pack, in addition to the same 106-kWh pack that’s standard in the four-door coupe.
Mercedes says the larger pack makes the SUV capable of up to 700 kilometers (435 miles) of range, though that is using the European WLTP cycle. EPA ratings don’t tend to give as generous a range figure, so we would expect a US-spec model to manage somewhere in the 400-mile range.
Like the other AMG GT, the SUV uses a beefier 800-volt electrical architecture, which offers up stronger charging performance when paired with the cells’ design and chemistry, using a Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese-Aluminum (NMCA) cathode and silicon-containing anode. An electrically non-conductive oil also flows around the individual cells in the battery pack, so drivers can charge up to 710 kW (on DC fast-chargers that can deliver that much juice). The 2028 Mercedes-AMG GT supports charging using the NACS standard in the US, as well as CCS2 in Europe, CCS1 in Korea, CHAdeMO in Japan and GB/T in China.
Provided you can find a beefy enough charging station, Mercedes’ quoted time for 10-80% charging speed for the AMG GT SUV is just 12 minutes.
That’s all great, but what about performance?
Right off the bat, the most direct competitor for the 2028 Mercedes-AMG GT63 SUV is clear: the Porsche Cayenne Electric. You can make a well-educated guess at that fact because the 63 model packs just a bit than the Cayenne Turbo EV.
Three powertrain options are coming to the Mercedes-AMG GT SUV, with the most potent using three axial flux motors for 1,153 horsepower (to the Cayenne’s 1,139) at its peak, and 1,475 lb-ft of torque. That sort of output enables. a 0-60 time of 2.6 seconds without any rollout — about half a second slower than the four-door coupe — and a top speed of 168 mph.
The GT55 still uses three motors like the 63, but with a reduced output to 805 horsepower (though you get the same 711 hp continuous output in normal driving as the 63). The mid-range variant runs from 0-60 in about 3 seconds, gets a slightly lower boost duration for that maximum output (55 seconds in instead of 63 seconds on the top-end model…I wonder where they got those numbers from).
Finally, the entry-level GT53 drops down to two on the motor count, and uses permanently excited synchronous motors to the higher models’ axial flux setup. The power output is down to 536 horsepower (continuous 362 hp), along with 590 lb-ft of torque. That drop-off also brings the 0-60 time up to 4.1 seconds, and the top speed down to 143 mph.
When will the new AMG GT SUV get here, and how much will it cost?
Whether you’ve been aiming for one or not, the 2028 Mercedes-AMG GT SUV does give you another option against the likes of the Porsche Cayenne Electric, the electric Range Rover and the BMW iX5, among others.
Mercedes says its new, ground-up performance electric SUV will hit US dealerships next summer. That said, all three models — the 63, 55 and 53 — should all be available to buy at launch.
What we don’t know yet is how the pricing structure will shake out. Estimates peg the four-door coupe at about $175,000 for the GT55 and $225,000 or so for the GT63. Translate those figures over to the SUV, and I suspect we’ll see prices start just north of $150K for the GT53, around $200K for the GT55 and possibly up to $250K for the GT63. Again, to be clear those are just rough estimates, as we’ll have more specific information sometime before the launch next year.
