Car or tool? There's a fine line

Car or tool? There's a fine line 

Meet the Concept AMG GT XX: part spaceship, part endurance athlete, and fully mad. It's the latest insane project from Mercedes-AMG. Only this specific car is much more than just an idea in a lump of clay or a gimmicky take on a more tame future concept. It's a research tool for AMG and its new energy vehicles, pushing the pen on aerodynamics, faster charging and top speeds, and there is a lot going on. 

It comes as a bit of a surprise, as the brand isn't exactly rolling in cash currently, so a project of this magnitude to come to impressive completion was unexpected from AMG. Nevertheless, the GT XX is an interesting machine, and it has a mesh of new innovation keeping it together. Its global debut began a few days ago when this obscure-looking, streamlined monster covered 40,075 kilometres in under eight days around the Nardò Ring. Reading these numbers might not blow our socks off, but this is a momentous achievement for Mercedes, breaking 25 long-distance records in the process, especially considering it is an EV. So what does it take to travel that far in just over a week? 

Well, the team clocked an average speed of 300km/h during this test, which for an EV is almost unimaginable. At this speed the GT XX requires 83% throttle to overcome drag. So as you can already start to see, there are a few big issues that come into play with this endurance challenge. Firstly, it needs to be powerful. 

It makes use of three axial flux motors that produce a touch over 1,000kW; exact numbers have yet to be released, but AMG do claim it's over the four-digit mark. Therefore, it possesses significant potency, satisfying the first of several requirements. The second factor to consider is drag, as you want the car to be as aerodynamic as possible to minimise the time burden of charging during a timed challenge. 

The GT XX is a seriously slippery car, offering a drag coefficient of 0.19. For reference, the 911, which is a pretty slick car, offers a coefficient of 0.27 without the big wings on the GT models. But it's a lot more than just a smooth car, as at consistently high speeds, batteries and electric motors get seriously warm, and the most crucial element for this challenge was longevity. 

To keep the temps down, the GT XX has a highly sophisticated cooling system. Its advanced aerodynamics either allow air to glide over the car or direct it towards the liquid cooling module's radiator for these at-risk, hot components. It only directs air into the vehicle to create more drag. There's more: the electronic drive units, or EDUs, need to be kept at a different temperature from the high-performance batteries, so simply running a liquid cooling system through these pieces of hardware won't suffice.

This is where the central coolant hub comes in. This nifty piece of hydro tech allows for one central point to control the temperature and direction of fluids through numerous 4- and 5-way valves, temperature sensors and high-performance pumps. The reason for this exceedingly complicated battery and motor cooling system is mostly due to weight savings, as separate cooling systems need more hoses, clamps and pumps, which all add weight. 

Back to the aero. So this cooling system is advanced, and it will clearly need a way to quickly bring the fluid temps down, so to avoid creating drag from vents and gaps within the body, the GT XX uses adaptable louvres to allow more or less air into the radiator, ensuring that cool air is drawn in when it is needed. To make sure that this cool air is directed exactly where it needs to be, the wheels, splitter, side air curtains, rear diffuser, and side blades direct the air either away from the car or within as efficiently as possible. 

So it's powerful, smooth and cool, but EVs struggle at high speeds and use a lot of energy to stay up there for extended periods. So either it is dragging along the largest battery ever, or it's stopping to charge regularly. Well, it's more so the latter, as it has a 114kWh battery within, only it has seriously rapid charging potential. To ensure Mercedes could perform to the best of their ability, they built a temporary high-power charging facility at the track for this challenge. 

Normally a DC charger would provide between 50-350kW with 350kW being the best chargers you can find. Only this temporary charging station, paired with the GT XX’s advanced charging capability, was able to charge at over 850kW via a standard CCS cable. In other words, it can add 400km of range in five minutes. 

With all this engineering considered, completing 40,075km in 7 days, 13 hours, 24 minutes and 07 seconds at an average speed of 300km/h is mighty impressive, especially for an EV. Of course, a lot of this car was engineered and developed with F1-focused software, machinery and brainpower, which explains why it's so unbelievably impressive. The team has also developed a helmet alongside the car that has augmented reality installed within, so your information readouts are right in front of your eyes for little to no distraction. It's a cool cherry on top.

It remains a concept for now, but Merc seems to be perfecting the art of reliable high-speed electric power and charging. All of which gives EVs a step forward towards competing with petrol at top speed and makes range anxiety that much less troublesome. Do we need an electric car that can sit happily at 300km/h for hours on end? No, but this challenge is pushing the limits of the traditional EV in many ways, so it's exciting to see.

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