Mercedes-AMG’s New GT XX Hypercar Concept is a 1,340-HP EV

Mercedes’ AMG performance arm has a history of rolling out ever faster and more powerful supercars. But the new GT XX Concept takes things to a new level, delivering 1,340 horsepower and setting a top speed of 223 mph. Did we mention it is all-electric and previews a new model set to soon enter production? More from Headlight.News.

When it comes to talking up new and future products, Mercedes-AMG is seldom restrained. But the news release that landed in our e-mail box this week takes things to a new level: “The performance of the future is on its way,” it began, “with exceptional technology, outstanding endurance, hyper-fast charging and a highly emotional design.”

The product they’re talking about is the new GT-XX Concept – which is expected to heavily influence a production hypercar set to debut in the next year or two.

Significantly, the AMG GT XX Concept – and production model to follow — will use an entirely new generation of “axial flux” motors developed by a British start-up Mercedes acquired four years ago. They’re reportedly smaller, lighter, more efficient and significantly more powerful than the electric drive units that dominate the EV market today.

What’s the GT XX Concept

AMG’s GT XX Concept previews what some are hailing as the first all-electric model from AMG.( The automaker actually produced an extremely limited number of battery-powered models based on the  SLS supercar back in 2014.)

The new concept is a sleek, four-door coupe that picks up on the highly aerodynamic design of the earlier Mercedes EQXX prototype. It reportedly boasts a drag coefficient of just 0.198, something that helps substantially boost both range and performance – and which comes within a micron, as it were, of the 0.197 drag coefficient of the Lucid Air EV.

The design isn’t static, however, with active aerodynamic features, including five carbon-fiber elements on the unique wheels. Depending upon how the prototype is being driven, they can move to reduce drag or to channel air to keep the brakes cool. Rather than come up with a way to send current to the wheels, they reportedly are self-powered, tapping into their own kinetic energy.

Axial flux motors

Mounted under the load floor, GT XX relies on three electric drive units providing a combined 1,340 horsepower. These are axial flux motors – and no, they’re not the axial flux capacitors found in the modified DeLorean DMC12 of the Back to the Future movie trilogy. They’re, nonetheless, an impressive piece of engineering. “We can deliver the same power and torque in a lighter package,” Yasa chief executive Chris Harris told the Financial Times after his company was acquired by Mercedes back in 2021.

For his part, Mercedes CEO Ola Kallenius told the paper, “We wanna go faster.”

If you want the technical explanation, Wikipedia sums it up this way: “An axial flux motor is a geometry of electric motor construction where the gap between the rotor and stator, and therefore the direction of magnetic flux between the two, is aligned parallel with the axis of rotation, rather than radially as with the concentric cylindrical geometry of the more common radial flux motor. With axial flux geometry torque increases with the cube of the rotor diameter, whereas in a radial flux the increase is only quadratic.”

More Performance News

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• Honda Wants a Hypercar
• GM’s UK Design Team Explores Hypercar Concepts

Extreme performance

Mercedes claims the GT XX Concept can hit a top speed of 223 mph. While it hasn’t released 0-60 numbers, however, it is likely safe to assume it will come in under 2 second, in line with what we’re already seeing from the Lucid Air Sapphire edition and the Tesla Model S Plaid.

To enhance the emotional experience – as if the neck-snapping launch feel weren’t enough – the electric prototype adds simulated audio to recreate what you’d hear from an AMG V-8. It’s not an entirely novel approach, however, considering Dodge has done the same with the Fratzonic “Exhaust” system found on the new Charger Daytona model.

While GT XX is all-wheel-drive, the heavy work is done by the rear electric drive unit. The front EDU can decouple when maximum power isn’t required – as when coasting down a freeway – to improve range

When it comes to GT XX, incidentally, the term, “performance,” also applies to charging. The automaker isn’t providing complete range data but it did note that the prototype’s optimized, 800-volt electrical architecture can add as much as 400 km, or 250 miles, in just 5 minutes when plugged into a powerful enough DC charger. In U.S. EPA terms, that would “only” be around 200 miles, still an impressive number that isn’t much less than the miles you’d get fueling up a gas-powered hypercar in 5 minutes.

Interior

Much like the EQXX prototype, the GT XX Concept has plenty of details that are designed for show, as much as go. Whether the active aero wheels, simulated audio and other features will carry over into production remains to be seen.

The same goes for some of the interior details, such as the Concept’s GT3 racing seats with five-point racing harnesses. The cabin has the feel of something coming from Hollywood, enhanced by its ambient lighting.

But AMG clearly is intent on getting into the EV market. Like parent Mercedes, it is backing off on plans to go all-electric anytime soon, but its betting that the incredible power those axial flux motors can deliver will click with buyers looking for the ultimate level of performance.