The electric vehicle world just got a jolt. Mercedes-AMG recently showed off what its electric performance cars can do. They took their latest prototype, the GT XX, and absolutely crushed a bunch of endurance records.
An Electric Marathon Like No Other
Over eight grueling days, the high-performance Mercedes-AMG GT XX was put to the test. This happened at the famous Nardò circuit in Italy. By the end, the car had grabbed an amazing 25 records.
The biggest story was its 24-hour run. This four-door sedan covered 5,479 kilometers in just one day. That’s more than 1,500 kilometers further than the previous record. The XPeng P7 held that old record. This shows how far electric car tech has come.
To pull this off, Mercedes-AMG set up a huge operation. The car drove at a constant 300 km/h. It only stopped to recharge its batteries. The charging process was super quick, hitting powers of 850 kW. This meant the car spent very little time idle, keeping up its relentless pace day and night.
A team of 17 drivers took turns behind the wheel. Formula 1 driver George Russell was part of this crew. Each driver stayed in for two hours at a time. After almost eight days of continuous driving, the Mercedes-AMG GT XX had traveled 40,075 kilometers. That’s like going around the Earth! It set a new time record of 7 days, 13 hours, 24 minutes, and 7 seconds.
What’s even cooler is that two GT XX prototypes finished this challenge. They ended up only two laps apart from each other. Among the many records broken were the longest distances covered in timeframes of 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144, and 168 hours.
| Hours | Kilometers |
|---|---|
| 12 | 2749.924 |
| 24 | 5478.881 |
| 48 | 10859.526 |
| 72 | 16250.444 |
| 96 | 21632.451 |
| 120 | 26807.575 |
| 144 | 32099.133 |
| 168 | 37259.955 |
The Genius Inside the Machine
The heart of this prototype is a brand-new power system. It runs on three Yasa axial-flux electric motors. These motors are cooled with oil. Together, they create over 1,360 horsepower.
Two motors sit on the rear axle. A third motor on the front axle acts as a “booster.” It only turns on when needed. This means the GT XX mostly drives with power going to its rear wheels.
The battery is another key part of this success. It uses a new type of cylindrical cell called nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminum (NCMA). These cells store a lot of energy, about 300 Wh/kg. The battery pack holds over 3,000 cells. Each cell’s temperature is carefully controlled by a special cooling system. It uses non-conductive oil.
This whole setup uses an 800-volt architecture. This allows the GT XX to accept really high charging powers. It can take more than 850 kW at DC fast charging stations.
Yes, this is a prototype, but its technology is almost ready for the real world. This means we can expect to see this level of power and efficiency in the future Mercedes-AMG GT four-door car.
Mercedes-AMG says this upcoming electric car will gain about 400 kilometers of range in just five minutes of charging. That kind of speed promises to completely end worries about how far an electric car can go or how long it takes to charge.