Frankfurt Motor Show: Mercedes-AMG Project One debuts

Mercedes’ go-faster division has finally revealed its hypercar concept to the world as a tangible vehicle, and it’s called the Mercedes-AMG Project One.

The hybrid hypercar is essentially an AMG Formula 1 car for the road, with a 1.6-litre V6 being assisted by four electric motors.

Two motors drive the front wheels, one is directly attached to the 456kW V6, and one sits nestled in between turbines of the electrically boosted turbocharger.

AMG says the engine can easily reach speeds of 11,000 rpm, though remains significantly below the F1 engine speed limit due to the use of publicly available high octane fuel rather than actual race fuel.

The 90kW MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit Heat) motor in the turbo eliminates lag, while another 120kW comes from the MGU-K (Motor Generator Unit Kinetic) which surplus energy from the exhaust system to generate electricity, and either stores it in the high-voltage lithium-ion battery.

All up, the Project One has more than 740kW to draw from, with more than 500kW going to the rears and 120kW each at the fronts.

Thanks to this, plus a kerb weight which MOTOR hears should be around 1200kg, the Project One will reach 200km/h in under a claimed 6 seconds.

But the power which the Project One is capable of isn’t its only draw.

As well as being built from a steel platform supporting a carbon-fibre tub, adjustable multilink suspension, rear-wheel steering, and five different cooling circuits for various components all feature in a long list of engineering achievements applied to the Project One.

Daimler management board chair and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars Dr Dieter Zetsche says bringing Formula 1 tech into a road car is the next step after developing the cars on-track.

"Motorsport is not an end in itself for us. Faced with intense competition, we develop technologies from which our production vehicles also subsequently benefit,” says Zetsche.

“We are drawing on our experiences and successes from three constructors' and drivers' world championships to bring Formula 1 technology to the road for the first time: in Mercedes-AMG Project One."

Mercedes-AMG head Tobias Moers adds that Project One is the most ambitious project Mercedes has ever undertaken.

“Project ONE raises the bar in terms of what is currently technologically feasible and thanks to its combination of efficiency and performance it represents an absolute benchmark,” says Moers.

“At the same time, Project One provides an outlook on how AMG will define driving performance in the future."

MOTOR will bring you a closer look at the Mercedes-AMG Project One in the near future.