► AMG goes electric with new platform
► Grand four-door likely to be the first to launch
► AMG.EA platform uses axial flux motors
Mercedes-AMG is entering the electric age with its new AMG.EA architecture. The new BEV platform will underpin pure electric cars from Affalterbach, more than a decade on from the SLS AMG Electric Drive from 2013.
These official pictures of a camouflaged car undergoing winter testing are our first look at something that will run on this new AMG.EA (AMG Electric Architecture) platform. AMG calls the architecture ‘a technological trailblazer’ that will include a raft of clever bits of engineering on board.
The biggest bit of news, officially confirmed by AMG, is that cars running on AMG.EA will use axial flux motors. CAR understands they are sourced by Yasa, and the motors are designed to bring a 30 per cent increase in torque, around a five per cent increase in efficiency and double the performance of a more conventional permanently synchronous motor.
‘Axial-flux motors are significantly lighter and more compact, yet more powerful than comparable radial-flux motors currently used in 99 per cent of all electric cars,’ said Tim Woolmer at the reveal of the Vision One Eleven, found and chief technology officer of Yasa. ‘In an axial-flux motor, the electromagnetic flow runs parallel to the motor’s rotational axis, which is highly efficient.
‘In a radial-flux motor, the flow runs perpendicular to the rotational axis. Compared to radial-flux motors, they have considerably higher and more enduring power reserves, which delivers a whole new level of performance,’ adds Woolmer.
CAR understands that the new AMG.EA architecture will be made from light and stiffened aluminium and feature an 800-volt architecture to reduce wiring weight and allow for ultra-fast charging speeds.
As for the first car to run on this new platform, it will very likely be a successor to the AMG GT four-door given AMG’s official images of a car in camouflage. Expect a new design language to arrive, with elements of the hyper-efficient EQXX prototype vehicle and – naturally – the Vision AMG concept.
The official launch of this new model is expected in 2025.