Mercedes-Benz is on a mission to change the electric vehicle world with its AMG GT XX concept. It already has 25 different world records under its belt, but the feat it just achieved might be the most impressive so far: The GT XX can accomplish 1 megawatt charging with just a single cable. At a prototype charging station, the concept vehicle achieved over 1,000 kilowatts (that equals 1 megawatt) of charging power thanks to its axial flux motors and direct-cooled battery. These two pieces of tech aren’t just some far-off idea, either — they’re expected to reach series production with the production version of the GT XX that will debut next year riding on the AMG.EA high-performance EV architecture.
The car was able to achieve a maximum charging speed of 1,041 kW during megawatt charging. Mercedes says the power was available just 0.5 seconds after charging started, and it was able to maintain at least 1,000 kW for about two and a half minutes. Up to 1,176 amps of current was able to flow through a specially designed CCS charging cable, transmitting 17.3 kWh of juice in just one minute. That’s the equivalent of 78 miles of range in the WLTP cycle. In EPA terms, that’s at least 55 to 60 miles, which is pretty incredible.
Batteries, baby
Mercedes says a lot of what makes these sorts of ludicrous charging speeds possible is the design of the 3,000 battery cells inside the AMG GT XX that were developed in-house in Affalterbach and inspired by Formula 1 tech. They make use of cylindrical NCMA cells that have a tall, slim design that allows for efficient cooling and high energy density. Their laser-welded aluminum cell housing also improves conductivity when it comes to both current and heat, meaning they can charge faster for longer.
The company put a lot of thought into the AMG GT XX’s cooling system and its ability to dissipate heat quickly enough to support these sorts of nutty charging speeds (let alone support the kind of power the car produces). Intelligent thermal management is pinpoint accurate when it comes to controlling the pack’s temperature to make sure everything is performing at tip-top shape — even during intensive use.
A more advanced charger
Of course, you can’t pop over to your run-of-the-mill Tesla Supercharger or Electrify America hub and get these sorts of numbers. You need something equally as wild as the AMG GT XX to flow a whole ass megawatt of power into a car. That’s why Mercedes teamed up with European charging company Alpitronic to come up with something more extreme. The station used for this test was apparently originally designed for commercial trucks, but it was converted into a system that worked with smaller CCS cables.
Don’t worry, that isn’t some one-off experiment, either. Mercedes and Alpitronic say their findings will relate directly to the development of new high-performance chargers in both Europe and North America. Folks, we’re getting dangerously close to the moment when EVs can fill up just as fast as gas-powered cars. What will electric vehicle doomers say then? In any case, what a cool world we’re living in, isn’t it?
