At face value, the 2025 Mercedes-AMG GT63 S E Performance looks like yet another hybrid only created to appease emissions regulators and set new horsepower records. While yes, its 805 horsepower makes the plug-in-hybrid GT the quickest AMG ever, its small battery pack and meager electric-only range make the hybridization seem pointless. Two days of driving the GT63 E Performance around Germany reveal that’s far from the case.
The new GT makes the most of the marvels of electrification. It’s one of the most genuinely usable plug-in hybrids I’ve ever driven, offering much greater electric-only operation than its small stated range suggests thanks to clever powertrain tuning. The GT63 S E Performance is as good at puttering around town as it is blasting down the autobahn or racing along a twisty road, and that breadth of ability wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t a plug-in hybrid.
Full disclosure: Mercedes flew me out to Germany to drive both the GT63 and SL63 E Performance hybrids around the greater Stuttgart area, putting me up at three different hotels including an incredibly nice one right along Lake Constance. We also got to take a tour of the AMG engine factory and ride along in the GT63 Pro at Mercedes’ Immendingen test facility. Half of our group got stuck in Amsterdam thanks to the CrowdStrike outage, and Mercedes’ travel department graciously put us up in hotels and made sure we were on flights back to America as soon as possible, which I am very grateful.