Five years after Mercedes-AMG unveiled the Project One concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show, production of the F1-powered hypercar has finally begun.
It is Mercedes-fastest Benz’s road car ever, and only 275 of them will be built; the first unit is currently being assembled. It was delayed due to difficulties in developing the turbocharged 1.6-liter V6 gasoline engine to meet road car emissions and noise regulations.
The cars are assembled by hand at AMG’s facility in Coventry, UK, while the hybrid powertrain with its four electric motors is manufactured by the Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains division in Brixworth- the team responsible for developing and producing the F1 car’s engines. Additionally, AMG teamed up with Multimatic to set up a bespoke production facility.
The all-wheel-drive vehicle has an extremely complicated combustion engine that can reach 11,000 rpm while still meeting Euro 6 emissions standards for road cars. The single-turbo V6 produces 566 horsepower and idles at 1,200 rpm, which is remarkably low when compared to the F1 car’s engine, which does it at 5,000 rpm. This was one of the most difficult problems to solve during development.
AMG One includes four electric motors in addition to the V6 engine. There’s one for each axle, for a total of 322 hp. A third e-motor sits next to the ICE and delivers 161 hp to the crankshaft, while a fourth is linked to the turbocharger and contributes 121 hp.Then there’s the 8.4-kWh lithium-ion battery pack with enough juice for about 11 miles (18 kilometers) of electric range.
The result is an acceleration of 0-100km in 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 219 mph (352kmh).