HOT GT SET TONE FOR AMG

REVEALED New high-performance GT XX Concept from AMG is set to start a new chapter in electric-vehicle engineering

- Jordan Katsianis

MERCEDES has revealed a brand-new concept car that it thinks will change the world of high-performance EVs. The Mercedes-AMG GT XX is a four-door supercar that packs some pretty intimidating figures, but behind them is a range of new powertrain technologies that will proliferate into other Mercedes models, including one that'll take a similar form to this four-door concept from as early as next year.

The key development in the GT XX is its new axial flux electric motors. Developed by British company Yasa, these e-motors are considerably smaller and more power dense than existing technology, and their introduction represents a change that is as significant as when fuel injection replaced carburettors.

An axial flux motor works in a very different way to existing e-motor tech, fundamentally changing the internal structure and axis of rotation. This has many benefits, but the most important are that an axial flux motor is around one third of the size, and about two thirds the weight, of an equivalent current e-motor, yet has three times the power density.

The GT XX mounts two motors on the rear axle and one on the front for a tri-motor layout. The majority of the power is derived from the rear axle, while the front unit cuts in to assist with traction and help produce the 1,341bhp peak power figure.

No official torque figure has been shared yet, however Jörg Miska, the CEO of Yasa, assured us it would be “thousands of Newton metres”. The set-up also allows torque vectoring, which Yasa has experience of in the hybrid supercars - such as the Ferrari SF90 - that use its motors. However, he told us, the GT XX takes things to “a completely new level”.