Twin-turbo 2025 Mercedes-AMG E 53 Hybrid offers 604 hp (2024)

Despite customer tastes which have shifted with some permanency to SUVs and crossovers, a few manufacturers still see fit to crank out hot examples of four-door sedans. For this, we are glad. The latest? A new, hyperactive E-Class variant from Affalterbach.

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Called the Mercedes-AMG E 53 Hybrid, it utilizes a 3.0L inline-six-cylinder turbocharged engine and permanently-excited synchronous electric motor (we wish more things in our lives were “permanently excited”) to crank out 577 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque. The former can be jacked to 604 ponies in so-called Race Start mode, a decision which will enable this sedan to scarper from rest to near-felonious velocities in a Mercedes-estimated 3.8 seconds.

All-wheel-drive under the 4Matic+ banner is standard kit, and this sedan can motor solely on electricity when conditions are right.

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All by itself, the gasser belts out 443 hp (14 more than last year, thanks in part to a new twin-scroll exhaust-gas turbocharger operating at a higher psi of 21.8 pounds) while the electric motor integrated into the nine-speed transmission contributes up to 161 horsepower to the equation.

A battery measuring 28.6 kWh is positioned below the trunk floor, roughly three-quarters of which is available for everyday driving, with the remaining energy reserved for boost during spirited driving. The car is equipped with an 11-kW onboard AC charger, but can also hoover up electrons at a rate of 60 kW from an appropriately stout DC fast-charger.

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Most models fettled by AMG like to mark their territory with a bit of steroidal bodywork, and this car is no different. Front fenders are 1.1 centimetres wider than a standard E, an AMG-specific grille resides in the unique front fascia, and a large central lower inlet directs air to the additional AMG front cooler. AMG skirts, spoiler, and rear bumper helps onlookers play spot-the-difference in traffic.

Near that back bumper one will find active rear-axle steering, jutting up to 2.5 degrees opposite to direction of the front wheels at speeds up to 100 km/h (62 mph); or in the same direction, at maximum of 0.7 degrees, over that velocity.

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Its interior continues the current Mercedes obsession of illuminating all the things and placing screens on just about every flat surface. The optional MBUX Hyperscreen should really be standard at this rung on the ladder, with a 12.3-inch display right ahead of the passenger.

Seats are clad in MB-Tex and microfibre, but leather options are available if you’re so inclined. An exclusive Edition 1 trim is on tap only for 2025, adding a skiff of yellow accents to the interior, plus other styling details inside and outside the car.

Expect these cars to appear in Canada by the end of this calendar year.