It has been 4 years, 8 months, and 18 days since the debut of the Mercedes-AMG Project One concept car. Now, the performance division of Mercedes-Benz has finally teased the production version of the Formula 1-inspired One supercar.
First teased on the official Twitter page of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, the limited-edition supercar/hypercar is set to be unveiled to the world on 1 June, 2022. AMG One’s development and production are closely linked to the marque’s Formula 1 project, which has continuously won the Constructor’s Championship in the racing series for eight years, beginning in 2014.
Conceived as a Formula 1 racecar for the road back in 2016, the AMG One’s main highlight is its engine, which takes inspiration from the 1.6-litre, turbocharged V6 engine and hybrid powertrain found under the coke bottle body of the W07 Hybrid championship-winning Formula 1 racecar.
For reliability and regulatory reasons, the AMG One’s engine trades off a high rev limit (11,000rpm vs the racecar’s 15,000rpm). Still, the engine is touted to have a life of only 50,000km before requiring a complete overhaul. The hybrid powertrain includes four electric motors alongside the petrol engine, with an expected combined maximum power of over 1,000bhp.
Two of these four electric motors employ technologies used by the F1 team, including an MGU-K (Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic) and an MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit-Heat). The former recovers energy which would otherwise have been lost while braking to give an electric boost while accelerating, while the latter recovers heat energy dissipated from the exhaust to keep the turbocharger spinning at optimum speeds at all times for an almost-instant acceleration. The other two motors are placed on the front axle, making the AMG One an AWD supercar.
The production car will feature a mostly smooth flowing bodyshell, with large front air inlets, an F1-style roof-mounted air intake for the engine, a large fish-like vertical fin over the engine cover, and, if the virtual car shown in the Forza Horizon 5 game is to be believed, some crazy active aerodynamic elements over the front fenders and a complicated rear wing.
There are some bold projections for the production version of the Mercedes-AMG One. These include 0-100km in less than 2.2 seconds, 0-200kmph in less than six seconds, and 0-300kmph in less than 11 seconds with a top speed in excess of 350kmph! With a development period that has extended this long, we expect the company to have met or exceeded these goals.
All 275 units of this limited-production hybrid supercar have been sold out, with each apparently costing at least Rs 21 crore.
