The Mercedes CLS had to die so that the AMG 4-Door GT Coupe could live, but the large five-door liftback with combustion engines is following the swoopy sedan into the car graveyard. In its place is a new model that carries the same confounding name but goes fully electric. After the second-generation model premiered in May with GT 55 and GT 63 flavors, the lineup is expanding to include an entry-level member: the GT 53.
But this is no ordinary base model. It still packs a healthy 536 horsepower and 590 pound-feet (800 Newton-meters) of torque from a pair of electric motors after ditching the three axial-flux motors of its more potent siblings. Mercedes estimates it’ll need 3.8 seconds to hit 60 mph (96 km/h) before topping out at an electronically capped 143 mph (230 km/h).
