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AMG’s 1,340-hp GT XX concept covered the distance of Earth’s equator at Italy’s Nardo Ring in just under eight days, smashing 25 EV records in the process.
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A prototype of the forthcoming electric-powered Mercedes-AMG four-door super sedan has just been driven the equivalent of a lap around the Earth’s equator in less than eight days. The Mercedes-AMG GT XX concept covered 24,901 miles in 7 days, 13 hours, 24 minutes, and 7.1 seconds, averaging more than 137 mph, including stops to recharge the battery and bolt on fresh tires. And that was just one of 25 electric vehicle speed and distance records set by the orange, low-slung Mercedes over 3,177 laps of the 7.8-mile Nardo Ring in southern Italy.
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The Mercedes-AMG GT XX concept, the 1,340 horsepower, tri-motor powertrain of which is identical to the one that will power the production version of the car as well as AMG’s forthcoming high-performance electric SUV, beat the existing 24-hour electric vehicle distance record of 2,461 miles by 943 miles, covering 3,404 miles at an average speed of just over 142 mph. It covered 5,000 miles in a little over 35 hours, 10,000 miles in just under three days, and 20,000 miles in just six days and 23 minutes, running at a constant speed of 186 mph while on track.
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And to prove that impressive performance was no fluke, a second AMG GT XX finished just 15.5 miles behind the record-breaking car at the end of the weeklong marathon run.
The key point of the Nardo event was to prove AMG’s new AMG.EA electric vehicle architecture can deliver more than just scintillating acceleration in short bursts. “AMG always does its talking on the track,” said Mercedes-AMG boss Michael Schiebe from Nardo shortly after the completion of the record-breaking run. “We wanted to showcase what this technology is capable of.” Unlike other performance EVs, Schiebe said, the AMG GT XX is not just a sprinter. “You can push it again and again and again. It's a marathon sprinter.”
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“We’re the first manufacturer to use axial-flux motors and directly cooled batteries in fully electric models, and we have now demonstrated how superior these technologies are,” Mercedes-Benz chief technology officer Markus Schäfer said. The level of performance and endurance demonstrated by the AMG GT XX at Nardo will be present in the production AMG.EA models, Schäfer confirmed. “Whenever we do this kind of world-record run, we are promising that we're transferring technology almost one-to-one into the production vehicle,” he said. “For customers of our future electric models, this means they will get a genuine AMG—no ifs, no buts.”
One of the key enablers of the AMG GT XX’s speed and endurance is its high-performance battery, developed in-house for the AMG.EA architecture at Mercedes with the help of engineers from the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team. The battery has more than 3,000 cells with a unique nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminium (NCMA) combination in the cathode and an anode with silicon content. The tall and thin design of the cells, which are enclosed in lightweight laser-welded aluminium housings that provide better electrical and heat conductivity than the commonly used steel containers, allows them to be more effectively cooled by the electrically non-conductive oil that surrounds them.
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Mercedes-AMG engineers saw the battery accept a peak charge rate of 950 kilowatts from the megawatt charger being developed for AMG by charging specialist Alpitronic and accept an average charge rate of 850 kW over the weeklong marathon. The length of time spent changing the battery, as well as its state-of-charge window, was varied throughout the run to ensure optimal average speeds in conditions that included average daytime ambient temperatures of 95 degrees Fahrenheit and track temperatures as high as 160 degrees, as well as the occasional overnight rain shower.
Among the 17 drivers who put in stints behind the wheel of the GT XX during the record-breaking run was Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 driver George Russell, who praised the light and potent axial-flux e-motors developed by British-based Mercedes-Benz subsidiary, Yasa Ltd. “The axial-flux motors respond as immediately and precisely as a Formula 1 drivetrain, but with an endurance that I have only ever experienced with combustion engines,” Russell said. “This technology will revolutionize the driving experience—both on the racetrack and on the road.”
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Around the world in less than eight days, at an average speed of more than 137 mph. Mercedes-AMG has not just proven a point about its EV technology but also thrown down the gauntlet to every high-performance EV maker on the planet, from Tesla to Lucid, from Rimac to Xiaomi, from Porsche to Ferrari: Beat this.
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated by cars. My father was a mechanic, and some of my earliest memories are of handing him wrenches as he worked to turn a succession of down-at-heel secondhand cars into reliable family transportation. Later, when I was about 12, I’d be allowed to back the Valiant station wagon out onto the street and drive it around to the front of the house to wash it. We had the cleanest Valiant in the world.
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