Five years ago, Mercedes-AMG unveiled the Project One concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the fastest road car with a three-pointed star. The start of production of a hypercar with a Formula 1 turbo engine was constantly delayed precisely because of the 1.6-liter V6 power unit, which had to be adapted to Euro 6 noise and environmental requirements. But all the difficulties are in the past and the first client machine is already becoming real.
The Mercedes-AMG One is assembled entirely by hand at the Mercedes‑AMG High Performance Powertrains plant in Brixworth, England. This is done by the same people who develop and build powertrains for the Mercedes‑AMG Petronas F1 team racing cars. Especially for the release of the hypercar, AMG and Multimatic built a separate enterprise.
Mercedes‑AMG compares the production of the Mercedes-AMG One to the production of luxury watches. More than 50 people are involved in the process, with each vehicle going through 16 assembly and testing stations.
Some subsystems are first pre-assembled and tested for performance, then disassembled again and only after that they are finally installed in the car. This applies, for example, to the carbon fiber monocoque with a glued roof, as well as all removable body parts, which are also made of light and durable, but also expensive material.
After the assembly is completed, the factory test pilot checks the car at a nearby test site. When the acceptance test is successful, the 1,049-horsepower car is wrapped in a protective film and transported in a closed truck to Affalterbach in Germany, the headquarters of AMG. There the owner receives his precious purchase and undergoes a technical briefing.
The extremely complex V6 turbo engine produces 566 horsepower and idles at 1200 rpm, which is surprisingly low considering that the F1 engine is based on 5000 rpm. At the same time, the maximum speed reaches 11,000 rpm.
The ICE is assisted by a quartet of electric motors. One motor is for each of the front wheels (total power 322 hp), the third, with a capacity of 161 hp. connected to the crankshaft of a V6 engine. Another electric unit develops 121 hp and is connected to a turbocharger.
Mercedes-AMG One is equipped with an original seven-speed transmission, which is not found in any other car, and a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 8.4 kWh. This charge is enough for about 18 km of run on electric traction.
The Mercedes-AMG One accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.9 seconds and from 0 to 200 km/h in 7 seconds. The maximum speed reaches 352 km / h. The starting price of the Mercedes-AMG One is from 2.27 million euros.
Source: Mercedes-AMG
