Back in May this year, Mercedes-AMG dropped teasers of a mysterious, low-slung four-door super sedan. We knew it was electric, but just last week, more clues with yet another teaser: a sculpted orange machine with aero strakes, a fixed roof, and no rear glass, which we assumed had something to do with the Vision One Eleven concept. Turns out, it’s both. A hyper-sedan with the attitude of a track weapon and the usability of a four-door. But now, the wait is finally over, because after weeks of speculation, the wraps are finally off. Meet the Mercedes-AMG GT XX Concept, an all-electric model with hypercar levels of performance, set to pave the way for the future of the German performance brand, and there’s a lot to unpack here.
Performance: Beyond Hypercar Territory
Let’s kick things off with performance. The AMG GT XX Concept previews the first series-production four-door sports car based on AMG’s dedicated high-performance electric architecture known as AMG.EA that employs a combination of aluminium, steel, and carbon fiber composite materials. At its core, a revolutionary drive concept developed by Mercedes-owned, U.K.-based subsidiary YASA: three axial flux motors with variable 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive, that deliver 1,341 horsepower and that allow for a top speed of 223 mph.
The two rear motors are housed in an oil-cooled High Performance Electric drive unit (HP.EDU) and are equipped with a planetary gear set and an inverter in a single casing. The motor upfront is a Disconnect Unit (DCU), which can boost efficiency by decoupling during steady cruising and coupled again during braking for recuperation.
Compact and lightweight, these motors are 3X more power dense, 2/3 lighter, and 1/3the size of conventional radial motors and are designed for ultra-fast torque delivery and advanced torque vectoring. The use of materials such as silicon carbide in the construction offers additional benefits, such as better thermal efficiency, when operating under high voltages and currents. The production of these Axial motors is done at Mercedes’ Berlin plant and involves 100 steps, 65 of which are new to Mercedes, with 35 world-firsts and 30+ patents filed.
Powering this entire drivetrain system is a high-performance electric battery (HP.EB) designed from the ground up is integrated into the structure of the electric skateboard platform. Controlled by an innovative battery management system (BMS), it uses direct-cooled cylindrical NCMA cells with silicon anodes, full-tab design, and aluminum housing (vs. steel).
You’re looking at more than 3,000 cells that are cooled individually by a non-conductive oil for real-time thermal control. Charge losses are lower, lifespan is longer, and temperature management is individually optimized per module. Developed fully in-house by AMG, the system uses core sensors and reference electrodes to predict and model cell behavior.
What all this means in the real world is: beyond the instant acceleration, sustained performance, without drop-offs typically associated with high-performance EVs. As for charging, AMG claims that the battery remains in an optimal temperature range be it during intense driving or charging, and the system can recover 400 kilometers (about 250 miles) of range in just five minutes. That equates to DC fast charging at the rate of 850 kW and 1,000 amps. They specifically cite that as the distance between Affalterbach and Spa-Francochamps, hinting that this AMG belongs on the track.
Design: Emotion in Motion
Finished in the same vibrant orange hue as seen in the teaser last week, the body features Electroluminescent Paintwork, which glows at night and communicates charging progress with animation. Coming to the design, Concept GT XX features a traditional wide Panamericana-style front grille with vertical struts and a massive three-pointed star in the center, a backlit lip, radar sensors, and two rectangular auxiliary lighting units within.
The tri-led setup, as seen on the concept, has made way for what appear to be conventional headlights. But you have exterior speakers embedded in the headlight housings, doubling as pedestrian alert systems and sound generators using passive membrane tech for bass production.
Down low, a deep chin spoiler, and air curtains on either side of the front bumper help funnel air through a heavily ducted hood, similar to the aforementioned Vision One Eleven. The fastback profile follows a body that features a long hood, a long wheelbase, a stubby-tail, and wide rear haunches, giving it a purposeful stance.
Rolling stock? Five-spoke, center-lock 21-inch forged wheels with active aero blades that open for brake cooling and close for drag reduction, controlled by mini generators and Bluetooth. The wheels also feature contrasting orange accents and are wrapped in Michelin rubber. Another interesting detail is the door sills. This design pattern is widely found on current AMG models, but here, they appear to be backlit. To remind you that this isn’t just a rebadged EQ model, there’s a decal on the front door that reads “Concept AMG GT XX – Driving Performance Since 1967.”
Moving to the back, and the main thing that catches you is that there is no rear glass. Instead, you get a fixed panel, with a massive AMG decal that extends onto the subtle double-bubble roof. Further back, you’ll find a deployable active spoiler that sits flush with the bodywork, ensuring the drag coefficient stays razor sharp at just 0.198.
The triple concentric circular tailights on either side are one of the holdovers from the May teaser. Only here, they look almost production-ready. Sitting between them is the MBUX Fluid Light Panel at the rear, which uses 700 RGB LEDs to communicate real-time vehicle status. Lower down, you have a subtle diffuser setup. Overall, the GT XX certainly has presence, and the form stays true to the Vision AMG Concept from 2022.
Inside, things remain just as purposeful, and it’s clear: this car wasn’t designed for comfort, but was built with competition in mind. Carbon-fiber bucket seats, with leather and suede finishes that extend to the doors and roof, a fixed carbon roof, orange contrast stitching, and grab straps instead of door handles.
Derived from AMG GT3 racing tire pyrolysis oil, mixed with plant proteins and biopolymers, the individually-scanned 3D printed seat pads are covered in Labfiber Pearl Black, which matches genuine leather in feel, breathability, aging, and tensile strength and is fully recyclable. The butterfly-style yoke steering wheel looks sporty and packs a host of physical buttons and dials, and an integrated display that shows the state of charge.
Two massive screens dominate the dash, one being the 10.25-inch driver information panel and the central 14-inch screen. There are subtle hints of orange throughout this sporty cockpit with backlit elements, seen in the center console and wheel wells. A highlight is that the central mode selector sits a top of a cylinder with vertical fins.
Beyond the bright brushed metal finishes, there are more hints of the use of recycled materials at play with the textured finishes on the floor. Rear seats? Not shown here, but AMG claims they’re fully integrated into the bulkhead. Perhaps looking closely at the central infotainment panel hints at this car’s intent, as it can be seen displaying performance data like lap times and distance.
The Most Powerful AMG Ever Made
To fully appreciate what AMG is trying to do with the Concept GT XX, you have to go back to its roots. Founded in 1967 by Hans Wener Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, AMG (where G stands for Großaspach, Aufrecht’s birthplace) began tuning Mercedes engines for motorsport. By the 1980s and ‘90s, the AMG badge had become synonymous with brutal V8 sedans and motorsport-grade engineering. In 1999, Daimler Chrysler (as it was then known) acquired a majority stake, and by 2005, AMG fully folded into the Mercedes-Benz family.
Now, two decades later, the Concept GT XX represents the most radical reinvention of the performance brand. With 1,341 horsepower, the Concept AMG GT XX is more powerful than the 1,063 horsepower AMG One hybird hypercar, currently the fastest production car around the Nürburing Nordschleife (6:29.090 minutes). Also, for some context, an F1 car makes a combined 1,000 horsepower: 850 from the combustion engine alone and 160 horsepower from its electric motor.
The GT XX surpasses those numbers without burning a drop of fuel, and has four doors and a trunk. Speaking of the AMG One and F1, the powertrain of the Concept GT XX benefits from inputs not just from Affalterbach, but the Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) in Brixworth (UK). The innovative package that combines the revolutionary motor and battery will enter series production at Mercedes-AMG in 2026
While the Concept GT XX is an exceptional showcase of where AMG is headed next, would it be wise to delay launching any all-electric performance models at this point, as sales of EVs have cooled off and the market has yet to pick up? Several performance marques from the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini have put their all-electric models on hold for now, but when the time is right, AMG already has something pretty substantial to build upon and can act quickly.
Source: Mercedes-AMG
