Mercedes-AMG is taking no prisoners when it comes to its next generation of EVs, the first of which is previewed by the very orange GT XX Concept. The concept rides on a new high-performance AMG.EA platform, featuring an 800-volt architecture capable of delivering massive power and lightning-quick charging speeds of up to 850 kilowatts. As the teaser for the upcoming performance halo model for AMG’s EV lineup, the GT XX Concept boasts a triple motor setup with a total of 1,341 horsepower. Considering the sedan body style and headline power figures, it’s clear AMG is gunning for the Porsche Taycan and Lucid Air in equal measure.
Despite being the future of AMG’s EVs, the GT XX Concept may remind you of one of AMG’s past bangers, the GT 4-Door Coupe. The GT XX Concept in production form will likely replace AMG’s hardest-hitting V8 sedan, taking its place near the top of the lineup. The Concept also takes heavy inspiration from the Mercedes-Benz C111 experimental vehicle from all the way back in the late 1960s.
The most obvious giveaway is the orange paint job, followed by the circular tail lights and swoopy silhouette. Mercedes design chief Gordon Wagener says the tail lights are meant to resemble the quad tail pipe exits of current AMG V8 models, though the nod to the C111 is more fulfilling. A lot of the design elements have actually been seen before, on the Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven concept from 2023.
Not just design either, that concept also previewed axial-flux electric motors from Yasa, the company that was bought over just for their revolutionary technology. Versus the current crop of radial-flux electric motors, the tech boasts lower weight and superior power and torque density. In the GT XX Concept, there are three of them: two in the rear and one in the front for that headline power figure that bests even the 1,019 horsepower Porsche Taycan Turbo GT.
Mercedes hasn’t released performance figures, except for an expected 223mph top speed. What the company has spoken about is the car’s 850kW charge speeds that can add 248 miles of range to the specially-developed battery cells in just five minutes.
While performance is very much the focus of AMG’s upcoming line of EVs, which the GT XX Concept previews, sustainability does rear its head. The sparse almost-race car interiors feature recycled materials, such as upholstery said to be made from recycled GT3 race tires.
All in, the Mercedes-AMG GT XX Concept is a far more exciting look at the future of AMG than some of the diluted EQ line of cars we’ve seen so far. With Mercedes-Benz announcing a chance in its EV roadmap to stay committed to internal combustion cars for longer, thanks to a lukewarm response to its electric vehicles, the production version of the GT XX Concept expected in 2025 really can’t come any sooner.
