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This EV Just Went Around The Earth In Under 8 Days - World Records Fall Like Dominoes
A few months ago in June, the maniacs at Mercedes' power-obsessed AMG division revealed the GT XX concept. And while it looked production-ready, Mercedes stuck the concept tag on it as it came with a host of tech that well, seemed not quite ready for the road.
However, despite its concept tag, the Mercedes-AMG GT XX has been undergoing testing as it is expected to be the foundation for the AMG GT 4-door Coupe that is set to arrive next year.
The latest of those testing sessions was a rather intense one. It took place at the Nardo ring, a track that can be viewed from space. With two AMG GT XX's at the track, Mercedes went about smashing a host of long records for an EV.
The AMG GT XX electric concept car covered 5,479 kilometres in 24 hours, a new world record for EVs. With 1341hp on tap, 17 drivers, including F1 driver George Russell, doing three 8-hour shifts and with the help of rapid 850kW charging, the AMG GT XX beat the previous electric record set by the Xpeng P7 by a margin of 1,597 kilometres.
The two identical GT XX prototypes circled the track continuously, alternating between charging stops and driver swaps. As they sprinted across the track, the two GT XX's maintained speeds of 300 km/h.
With the one-day record secure, the Mercedes team shifted focus. The drivers continued pounding the miles. Over 7 days, 13 hours, 24 minutes and 7 seconds, the AMG GT XX covered 40,075 kilometres. The significance of that number, the circumference of the Earth at its equator. By the time, finally finished, the AMG GT XXs had covered 40,234 kilometres (25,000 miles).
In those 7+ days of non-stop running, the AMG GT XX smashed a total of 25 performance records. From 2,000km to 40,000km and 2,000 to 25,000 miles along with time (distance covered) records for 12, 24, 48, 72, 96,120, 144, and 168 hours.
| Kilometer | Time | Miles | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000 | 08h:40m:34,22s | 2,000 | 0d:14h:03m:10,25s |
| 3,961 | 17h:14m:42,06s | 5,000 | 1d:11h:27m:03,47s |
| 5,000 | 21h:54m:47,48s | 10,000 | 2d:23h:15m:45,04s |
| 7,300 | 1d:08h:07m:58,11s | 15,000 | 4d:11h:52m:28,70s |
| 10,000 | 1d:20h:10m:00,45s | 20,000 | 6d:00h:23m:07,85s |
| 20,000 | 3d:16h:41m:52,75s | 25,000 | 7d:14h:09m:52,47s |
| 21,196 | 3d:22h:03m:22,22s | ||
| 25,000 | 4d:15h:44m:51,02s |
| Hours | Kilometer |
|---|---|
| 12 | 2,749.924 |
| 24 | 5,478.881 |
| 48 | 10,859.526 |
| 72 | 16,250.444 |
| 96 | 21,632.451 |
| 120 | 26,807.575 |
| 144 | 32,099.133 |
| 168 | 37,259.955 |
So just how did the Mercedes-AMG GT XX achieve these endurance feats that saw it go around the world in under 8 days (sort of). Well, the first of the factors was definitely the drivetrain that combines three axial-flux motors producing more than 1,340 horsepower.
Unlike conventional designs, the motors, inverters, and gearing of the AMG GT XX were built into a single oil-cooled housing called a High-Performance Drive Unit. The specially developed battery sat low in the chassis, containing over 3,000 high-density cells.
Oil flowed directly around each cell, preventing heat build-up even when the GT XX's ran flat-out for hour after hour. The system, derived from AMG's Formula 1 experience, allowed output to remain consistent across the entire 7+ day record push.
AMG's engineers debuted an 850 kW ultra-rapid charging system for the record run, which is faster than anything yet seen in a production car. This ensured that each charging stop lasted only minutes, before sending the fully charged car back onto the Nardo ring's massive bowl section.
The constant motion also required the cars to withstand more than just mechanical strain. Tyre degradation, wind direction on the oval, and even driver fatigue had to be accounted for in this insane record run. Support staff worked in shifts, swapping out just like the drivers, to ensure that everything went smoothly behind the scenes as well
Inside the cockpit, the car remained closer to a prototype than the luxury grand tourer it previews. Lightweight seats, exposed high-voltage wiring, and racing-style safety harnesses replaced the plush touches of a road car. Across the dashboard, a strip of 700 LEDs ran from edge to edge, lighting up in sequences to let the driver know how every system was faring.
The end result is a record that a few years ago no one would have believed possible for an EV to do, and gives us a glimmer of hope that our electric future may not be as bad as some have foreseen, at least in terms of performance cars.
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