New Mercedes-AMG super-saloon looks ready to pounce on the Lotus Emeya
AMG’s new technological flagship will be revealed in full next year, after being previewed by the radical AMG GT XX concept
Auto Express has been up close and personal with Mercedes-AMG’s all-new, power-hungry super-saloon after we spotted prototypes of the Porsche Taycan and Lotus Emeya assassin lurking around the performance brand’s headquarters in Affalterbach, Germany.
We were there for the reveal of the AMG GT XX concept: a four-door supercar featuring all the innovative new technology that will power the as-yet-unnamed road car you see here. It's known internally as the C590 and is due to be revealed in full next year.
Mercedes chief technology officer Markus Schäfer described the new super-saloon to us as “a Swiss watch in the electric age.” He explained, “if you look at the components, the attention to detail and how we crafted this car. We didn’t just take every component off a shelf somewhere. It has a very unique technology.”
In particular, the axial-flux motors developed by British firm Yasa stand out. These are three times more power dense than the radial e-motors used in most EVs, yet smaller and lighter at the same time. The GT XX concept used three of these motors to deliver 1,341bhp, a similarly huge amount of torque and torque vectoring capabilities, which help boost agility through corners and stability at high speeds. While the road-going model will also feature a tri-motor setup, it’s expected to be slightly less potent, with the combined output probably reduced to around 1,000bhp. That's still plenty to catapult you into the next county in the blink of an eye, though.
As advanced and technologically sophisticated as this new car may be, AMG has already shown us it can get sideways on demand when yet more prototypes were testing up near the Arctic Circle. It's a signal of the brand’s desire to ensure this is a truly engaging car for drivers.
Schäfer sees the axial-flux motor as the equivalent of the AMG’s iconic V8 or V12 engines for its future electric cars. Driving the new model, he promises, is “an emotional experience. It has to be authentic when it comes to power, drivability and track performance. But the AMG is also an emotional experience from an acoustic standpoint, from noise, vibration and hardness. And that's exactly what you can expect in this car as well.”
New AMG super-saloon design
Much of the AMG GT XX’s aggressive yet streamlined design appears to have been carried over to the production car. For instance, despite the heavy camouflage, we can make out the outline of AMG’s signature (and absolutely gigantic) Panamericana grille that will stretch across the face of the car, and, of course, feature Mercedes’ iconic three-pointed star sitting proudly at its centre.
The air curtains on either side of the grille, the sleek silhouette, sweeping roofline, big shoulders, long bonnet and circular tail-lights all feature on the concept too, but some details have clearly been changed. Most noticeably, the headlights are bigger on the prototypes, and feature a three-pointed star motif, similar to those on the new Mercedes CLA.
The GT XX also does without a rear windscreen, much like a Polestar 4, but it looks like the road car will let you see out of the back. Unfortunately the interior was completely covered up so we don’t know how much of the concept’s interior design is set to reach production.
Despite the lack of an internal-combustion engine under the bonnet, and being based on a bespoke EV platform, as we mentioned AMG has still given its new flagship an incredibly long bonnet and generous overhangs. It's a more traditional front-end design than the Mercedes EQS and EQE electric saloons, which have much shorter and less distinctive bonnets.
Unlike on the current petrol-powered AMG GT 4-Door 63 S, there’s no fixed rear spoiler. We might see an active aero spoiler eventually pop up, but overall AMG has managed to create an elegant and sophisticated silhouette – one of many design elements that were previewed by the AMG Vision Concept back in 2022, as well the newer GT XX.
Platform, power and performance
This new high-end four-door model will be based on an entirely bespoke architecture called AMG.EA, rather than using tech from Merc’s existing AMG EQ models. AMG.EA utilises several potentially game-changing new technologies, like those innovative new axial-flux motors – which we learned about by visiting the creators at Yasa – and brand-new battery design. It uses tall, slim cylindrical cells, inspired by those used in Formula One, and features liquid cooling for maintaining the optimal temperature to deliver maximum performance, again and again, while ensuring longevity.
This will provide AMG’s future EVs with “a level of stamina that is simply unique,” according to the performance division’s top boss Michael Schiebe, and means drivers will experience “relentless, continuous performance.”
The AMG GT XX, and the road-going version too, use a ‘more than’ 800V electrical system that allows the cars to achieve an average charging speed of more than 850kW, and a peak figure that’s even higher. For context, the Porsche Taycan maxes out at 320kW. Once Mercedes starts building the chargers capable of delivering its cars’ enormous speeds, drivers should be able to add around 250 miles of range in around five minutes.
Naturally, none of this will come cheap. Merc’s flagship EV will most likely rival only the highest spec versions of the Taycan and the Emeya. This should see pricing start well over six figures. Such is the price of progress, especially when there’s an AMG badge affixed to the bootlid.
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