Mercedes-AMG is ready to start advanced work on its first custom electric performance sedan, which is scheduled to debut globally in 2025. It will likely be the most powerful road car the company has ever produced due to new drivetrain technology.
- AMG EV sedan will compete with Lucid Air, e-tron GT, and Taycan.
- intended to be a high-performance electric vehicle sedan.
- AWD dual-motor system will also be included.
Mercedes-AMG EV performance sedan: platform, powertrain
As an electric alternative to the growling, V8-powered GT 63 4-Door Coupe, AMG's first unique electric car will be charged with competing with highly praised and popular EV sports sedans such as the Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron GT, and Lucid Air.
AMG has already worked with the Mercedes EQE and EQS to build warmed-up, 53-badged sports sedans with massive power outputs, but this new vehicle will be developed from the ground up as a performance car. As a result, it is expected to focus as much attention on dynamic performance and engagement as it does on straight-line speed.
It will be the very first car to feature the AMG.EA unique performance-oriented EV architecture. This is thought to have been created and engineered with the goal of facilitating the low-slung, elegant forms that today define AMG's combustion sports cars. The deployment of highly advanced electric motor technology from British business Yasa, which Mercedes will buy in 2021, will be critical to establishing this platform as a specialized sports car design.
The Oxfordshire firm's disc-shaped axial-flux units, which will be developed at scale by Mercedes in Berlin, Germany, boast far higher power- and torque-density numbers than conventional, sausage-shaped radial-flux motors. As a result they can weigh less, take up less space, and work more efficiently. AMG has yet to reveal the precise implications of this technology for its upcoming production cars, but Yasa boss Tim Woolmer confirmed to our sister publication Autocar UK that a motor bound for one of the German firm's production cars weighs just 24kg while producing 800Nm of torque and 485hp in its own right.
The axial devices appear to be capable of producing a significant power increase over the 760 horsepower AMG EQS 53 4Matic when utilized in tandem as part of a twin-motor system, possibly approaching the 1000 horsepower and 1350 Nm threshold.
Remarkably, the vintage, wedge-shaped One-Eleven Mercedes concept, which signals that four-wheel drive is not a guarantee for AMG's upcoming sports cars, houses both of its electric motors on the rear axle.
AMG performance sedan Vision 2025 concept
In the upcoming months, as the EV gets ready for a 2025 market introduction, prototypes for the electric GT 63 replacement should begin to see the road. The angular, motorsport-themed Vision 2025 design that AMG unveiled last year is thought to be a close preview of the model's dimensions, form, and placement. It gives us the best look we have yet. The idea is positioned to succeed the GT 63 which is a car of comparable dimensions measuring 5,100mm in length and 3,000mm in wheelbase.
Its design which places its wheels in the corners and defines its shape with a variety of wind-cheating devices, including active aero components suggests that the emphasis was on internal room while retaining handling and aerodynamic performance.
The future sports car will feature a new type of slimline, energy-dense battery design exclusive to AMG EVs. Mercedes-Benz has stated that it will employ a new silicon anode material from the US company Sila. This is supposed to provide a 40% improvement in energy density over current graphite anodes, thus increasing range while also freeing up interior space.
As suggested by the Concept One-Eleven, modern AMG vehicles will follow the example set by their Benz-badged competitors and have a striking interior layout centered on a full-width high-definition screen. Even though the 2025 sedan is supposedly a four-seater, larger models will probably have room in the back for a third seat.