Arnold Schwarzenegger has owned a number of Hummers, a diesel Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon and even a tank before, but as he shifted his role from Terminator to Governor, he has been showing concern for the environment. In fact her has used quite strong language on his Facebook profile to get his point across.
He still likes big off-road vehicles but now he has helped design one that suits his more environmentally friendly lifestyle and his friends at Kriesel installed the electric engine.
Kreisel is a small battery startup launched by three brothers in Arnold’s home country of Austria. They have retrofitted some other European-built electric vehicles with their own battery packs, significantly increasing their range in the process.
In the case of Arnold’s new Mercedes G-Class, they were able to install an impressive 80kWh pack in the powerful, luxury SUV to give it an estimated range of 306km.
“This amazing off-road vehicle as a clean and fast electric car? A dream has become real!” says Schwarzenegger.
The battery weighs 510 kg or about the same as a Tesla battery pack. The electric motor has a 360 kW output on the road and reaches a maximum speed of 183 km/h. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.6 seconds or 3 seconds faster than the original diesel version.
Kreisel also claims that the vehicle’s battery can charge to 80% capacity in 25min.
Schwarzenegger unveiled his new ride to the public and took his new Mercedes-Benz G350d EV conversion for a test drive, while attending the Hahnenkamm ski race in Kitzbuehel, Austria.
“To me, with the electric version of this fantastic car, a dream has become true. The initial test drive was a real pleasure: The Kreisel is incredibly sporty and perfectly benefits from the advantages e-mobility has to offer. I really look forward to the following test runs and to the gradual further development in California.”