Like that car, the new supercar will use an 800V electric architecture and a new cylindrical-cell lithium-ion battery featuring silicon-anode developments from US battery specialist Sila.
Power will come from high-revving axial flux electric motors. To be used first in the electric GT 4-Door, they were originally developed by Yasa, before the British-based company was bought by Mercedes-Benz in 2021. Since then, the motors have been further advanced by a team of engineers from both Yasa and Mercedes-AMG.
With a highly compact disc shape that allows them to be packaged in small spaces, they are roughly half the size and half the weight of the conventional synchronous and asynchronous electric motors employed by the AMG-fettled EVs currently on sale.
Schiebe sees the axial-flux motor as a defining technical aspect of future electric AMG models, in the same way AMG’s various V8 petrol engines have been over the years.
“Customers who came to the brand because of the V8 did not come because they just wanted to have a big engine,” said Schiebe.
“They came because they loved the technology that we put into the car. So when it comes to electric driving, I’m pretty sure they will jump into that new technology because it will be the latest and greatest that you can get.”
Yasa’s axial-flux electric motors have already featured in the plug-in hybrid systems in the 986bhp Ferrari SF90 Stradale and the 1479bhp-plus Koenigsegg Regera.
Yasa officials have revealed that the patented electric motor to be used by AMG offers more than twice the power of Yasa’s existing electric motors on a power-to-weight basis: up to 489bhp and 590lb ft, with a weight of just 24kg.
They also revealed that a number of different drivetrain layouts have been developed, including a single- front and twin-motor rear set-up as well as a quad-motor arrangement with two front and two rear units. Depending on the layout, this confirms the next generation of electric AMG models will have a significant increase in power and performance over that of those models on sale today.
