Mercedes-AMG is bringing its F1 technology to the streets in an upcoming hypercar, and when it arrives, the German automaker wants it to be the efficiency king.
“To put it in just one sentence: outstanding performance with more than impressive efficiency,” chief executive of AMG, Tobias Moers told talking about the brand’s new hypercar. “It will meet emissions regulations worldwide, but we’re still confident that we’re going to have 40 percent [thermal efficiency],” he said.
That 40 percent figure isn’t a groundbreaking number, as hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Hyundai Ioniq already have small engines that hit 40 percent. The difference is, the Mercedes-AMG car uses a 1.6-liter V6 with a redline above 10,000 rpm, mated to a hybrid system to put out somewhere close to 1,000 horsepower.
SEE ALSO: More Details on the Mercedes-AMG Hypercar
Mercedes plans to sell between 200 and 300 of these hypercars, which are expected to cost around $2 million. Deliveries should begin in 2019, but don’t go looking for one, as the brand chief already told that almost the entire production run is already spoken for.
Moers pointed out that this car isn’t just inspired by Formula 1, it is essentially an F1 car for the street. “Every component we’re going to use out of Formula 1; that means an electric turbo, electric motors, the combustion engine, and even the battery—we’re going to use the same battery cell,” he said.
The biggest challenge with this strategy is going to be reliability, as F1 powertrains don’t need to meet real-world challenges like cold starts or running on lower octane fuel. The boost and the idle will need to be lowered to help with this, and Moers is confident that Mercedes-AMG can make it work. “It’s an issue; it’s a challenge; but it’s solvable, and we’re going to meet that,” he said.
[Source: Car & Driver and Automotive News]
