Mercedes' electric family supercar of tomorrow

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

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Mercedes plans to take the electric car world by storm with a new family-size supercar that combines beautiful looks with the latest tech. Gunning for Porsche's Taycan - the standout four-door performance EV on sale right now - the Concept AMG GT XX unveiled today previews a production car that promises to be a tour de force like nothing else seen in the electric car market.
The AMG-developed concept is already a fully drivable vehicle - and one that boasts over 1,300bhp from cutting-edge e-motors, a radical design that includes a controversial police-inspired rear light display, and a cockpit that looks like it's been lifted from a prototype racing car.
These elements combine to produce a host of jaw-dropping statistics. According to Mercedes bigwigs, it can hit 62mph in less than 2.5 seconds. The top speed is more than three times the legal speed limit in Britain. And its next-generation battery can add almost 250 miles of charge in the time it takes to fill up with petrol and pay for it at the forecourt kiosk. And these aren't pie-in-the-sky claims coming out of the Stuttgart HQ; bosses say these figures are representative of what the top-spec version of the showroom-ready EV will deliver when it arrives... next year.
Monumental electric power
At the beating heart of the Concept AMG GT XX is an oil‑cooled 114kWh cell‑to‑pack battery delivering energy to a trio of 'axial-flux' motors that are key to the EV's incredible performance figures. Developed by British company YASA, they are around a third of the size of existing e-motors used in production EVs - yet they are three times as power dense.
In total, the three e-motors produce a staggering 1,341bhp. To put this into perspective, the £2.5million Bugatti Chiron hypercar's 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 petrol engine delivers 1,578bhp. Experts have likened the significance of axial-flux e-motor adoption for EVs to that of fuel injection of combustion engines in the late 1980s and early '90s as the replacement for carburettors.
Two of these revolutionary e-motors drive the rear wheels, while a third provides power to the front-wheels, making this an all-wheel-drive model. But on demand. Under slower driving conditions, the third e-motor automatically decouples from the drivetrain to downgrade the Concept AMG GT XX to a rear-driven EV. This improves efficiency by reducing mechanical drag, meaning a little extra range from that massive battery.
Pedal to the floor, it is said to be able to go up to 224mph flat out. For how long this is achievable before the battery is drained entirely is not yet revealed. The cylindrical-cell battery is also far more advanced than anything seen in existing mainstream EVs - and has been co-developed by AMG's Formula 1 powertrain division based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire.
Switching from liquid to oil cooled is said to deliver more efficient heat transfer under sustained load, meaning the battery can operate at peak efficiency far longer than a conventional lithium-ion battery pack. The battery has a high voltage of 'more than 800 volts' and can support DC charging at up to 850kW - which is way beyond the capacity of any public charger in situ in the UK, or around the world.
Theoretically, Mercedes claims it will be able to add 249 miles (400km) of range in a charge lasting just five minutes. Though this is likely dependent on a roll-out of faster charging points, which bosses said are on the way. Markus Schäfer, chief technology officer at Mercedes-AMG, said during the unveiling: 'Three years ago, 300kW charging on the road was unthinkable. Now it's reality. 'We're already seeing 480kW stations in China. 1000kW parks will come.'
Mercedes is yet to confirm what the total driving range with a 100 per cent charged battery could be. The arrangement of the powertrain is also ground-breaking. The production car will debut the German company's new AMG.EA electric car platform, which sees the battery pack integrated into the chassis to boost torsional rigidity and crash protection. This will underpin most Mercedes EVs thereafter.
The four-door family supercar will also incorporate double‑wishbone front and multi‑link rear suspension set‑up with adaptive air springs, active roll control, and rear‑wheel steering. Combined with all-wheel-drive system and a mooted 50:50 weight distribution, it could be unmatched in terms of EV track performance. So confident in the car's capabilities, Mercedes says it will attempt to break various records using the prototype ahead of the production car launching in 2026.
'The best minds in our global R&D network have contributed their extensive expertise – from Mercedes‑Benz in Sindelfingen and Untertürkheim to Mercedes‑AMG in Affalterbach and YASA in the UK to our Formula 1 drivetrain experts at Mercedes‑AMG High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth,' Schäfer said. 'Together, they have developed the Concept AMG GT XX and are providing an insight into pioneering drivetrain technology and the future of performance. The technology programme pushes the boundaries even further and ventures into new ground.'
He added that the car has the capacity to 'lift performance and endurance to a completely new level'. But AMG is adamant that Concept AMG GT XX should retain the emotional appeal of the big V8 petrol engine performance cars it produces en mass today - and EVs will eventually replace from 2035 onwards. To achieve this, an eight‑speaker exterior sound system – mounted in the headlight housings – mimics acceleration sounds of a combustion powertrain.
Will the production version look this good?
There's no denying the Concept AMG GT XX is a gorgeous piece of automotive design. It's an extremely sleek - and very low - shape that will likely be tweaked for the production four-door model to improve cabin space, especially head room.
That said, Mercedes design boffins say the general silhouette will largely stay consistent, including its low-mounted grille, high shoulder lines, clean profile, massive wheels, and dramatic six ringed rear light cluster. What's unlikely to be retained are the active aero vanes in the 21-inch wheel spokes, which open at slower speeds to improve brake cooling and close to improve the aerodynamic performance around the arches when a driver puts their foot down. The LED displays in the sills - made from luminescent paint - showing the state of charge of the battery won't make it to the showroom car either.
The same can be said about daring features to the rear, like the 730-LED dot-matrix panel between the brake lights, which can spell out a number of different combinations of words and characters - similar to the signs displayed in the back of traffic officer cars when they pull ahead of offenders and direct them to pull over at the side of the road. An airbrake spoiler deploying under heavy braking or at high speed, working in tandem with a large carbonfibre diffuser, will, however, be fitted to the EV that customers can buy shortly.
The concept also does without a rear window, though Mercedes says this will be a traditional glass panel when the production vehicle emerges in 2026. That said, many of the concept features mentioned that won't make the showroom are said to be under ongoing development for models coming further down the line - so you might still be able to display expletives to cars behind in the future.
A family model with a race-car cockpit
The four-door - and four seat - coupe is dimensionally adequate for use as a family car, in the same way that the Porsche Taycan has been snapped up by eco-conscious households of late. Lotus is also targeting the same market with its Emeya EV . But don't be fooled by the suggestion of practicality, because once inside the Mercedes feels like a high-performance endurance racer rather than a school-run saloon.
Dual digital displays (the instrument cluster 10.25 inches and the main dash display 14 inches) dominate the front of the cabin, while the F1-derived steering wheel is very much in the ilk of the unit used in the AMG One hypercar. The interior is also bathed in a variety of experimental materials - though some of which might not make production. This includes biotech leather reportedly made from recycled GT3 tyres, protein‑derived bio‑silk door pulls (because handles weigh too much) and an exposed carbonfibre roof with no headliner.
When can I buy one?
A production version of the Concept AMG GT XX will be launched in 2026, and an SUV using the same EV architecture is expected to follow a year later as a challenger to the forthcoming electric Porsche Cayenne. There's no word on when order books will open, or how much it will cost, so eager EV converts will have to wait for more details to be released in the coming months.