Mercedes‑AMG EV GT 1000bhp prototype
- Autocar drove Mercedes-AMG’s electric GT 4-Door prototype on May 5, showing AMG’s first bespoke EV is now in dynamic testing ahead of launch. - The big tell is the hardware mix — over 1,000 bhp, three axial-flux motors, 800V architecture, and a synthetic V8 soundtrack piped outside. - It matters because AMG is finally defining its post-V8 identity — and aiming straight at Porsche’s Taycan Turbo GT and RS-style halo cars.
Mercedes-AMG’s next big four-door GT is an electric car. That alone isn’t the interesting part anymore. The real story is that AMG seems to have decided its first bespoke EV can’t just be fast in the sterile, EV way — it has to feel theatrical, adjustable, and track-serious too. That changed this week, when Autocar got seat time in a camouflaged prototype and surfaced the clearest picture yet of what AMG is building. ### What is this car, exactly? It’s the production-bound replacement for the current Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé, built on AMG.EA, a dedicated electric performance platform rather than an adapted Mercedes sedan architecture. Mercedes has been pointing to this car through the Vision AMG and later the Concept AMG GT XX, but the prototype drive matters because it shows the thing has moved from promise to working hardware. ### Why does the power number matter? Because AMG is not easing into this. The prototype Autocar drove is described as having well over 1,000 bhp, which lines up with Mercedes’ own GT XX concept claiming more than 1,000 kW — roughly 1,341 hp — from a tri-motor setup. That puts the car squarely in the same conversation as the most extreme electric performance sedans, not just the regular fast-luxury crowd. ### What’s unusual about the motors? AMG is using axial-flux motors, not the more common radial-flux kind most EVs use. Basically, axial-flux motors are smaller and lighter for the power they make, which helps when you’re trying to build something brutally quick without turning it into an uncontroll eeds extra traction or power. ### Why fake a V8 sound? Because AMG knows one of the hardest things about a super-fast EV is emotional texture. Autocar says the prototype uses a V8-style sound simulation, including external speakers, to give the car a more dramatic and legible character under load. Purists will roll their eyes, but the logic is pretty clear — if you remove engine noise, rather than just violently silent. ### Is this only about straight-line speed? Apparently not. The prototype report focuses a lot on control — steering weight, composure, and the way the chassis stays adjustable instead of feeling like a one-trick launch machine. That matters because AMG is chasing credibility against cars that are nrformance, which is usually where heavy EVs start to wilt. ### What about charging and endurance? This is where Mercedes is trying to claim a second win. The GT XX program also previewed megawatt-class charging, with Mercedes saying the prototype charging setup broke through 1,000 kW, and tied that tech directly to AMG.EA series production. If that survivesrd. ### Who is AMG really aiming at? Porsche, first of all. More specifically, the Taycan Turbo GT idea of an EV that has to do both numbers and Nürburgring-adjacent credibility. But there’s a broader identity fight here too. AMG’s V8 cars sold a very specific kind of excess — noise, swagger, rear-axle attitude. This EV lo ### So what’s the bottom line? The interesting thing is not that Mercedes-AMG built a 1,000-plus-bhp EV. Plenty of brands can do headline power now. The interesting thing is that AMG seems to think headline power is the easy part, and that the real job is making an electric four-door feel like an AMG on a fast road and a track. This prototype is the first convincing sign that it might actually pull that off.
