► All-new AMG GT four-door EV revealed
► AMG.EA platform, axial flux motors
► Plus, active aero and V8 soundtrack
AMG is going all out with its new era of EVs, starting right here: this is the all-new AMG GT four-door.
The new-generation electric grand tourer launches with a novel electric motor design, an entirely new platform that will underpin several extremely high-powered EVs in the years to come.
‘I’m 120 per cent convinced that it will really change the game,’ says AMG boss Michael Scheibe. ‘It’s a truly revolutionary car. Not only in terms of its design, but the technology. It’s a real technological monster.’ Hyperbole? Possibly. But the AMG GT’s long list of new tech builds a strong case for itself.
And worry not; the launch of this new and… aesthetically challenging electric AMG does not mean the world is ending just yet. More AMGs with combustion engines, including V8s, are on the way.
‘Aesthetically challenging’ is putting it mildly…
Yes. The consensus in the CAR office is that this is most certainly not a looker. Some of the design is to be expected, given we’ve had some hints and teasers up to the car’s unveil. The GT XX prototype that previewed the technology that lies beneath the new AMG GT four-door also pointed us in the general direction of how it would be designed. But some of this is still a lot to swallow.
As well as some active air dams inset into the front bumper and an active rear spoiler that lifts and changes angle depending on speed, complex air channels run underneath the car enables a motorsport-spec venturi effect. ‘Where it gets really interesting, though, is that we’ve added an active rear diffuser – we think that’s a world first,’ says GT project manager, Oliver Ganzmann. He adds that this is an aerodynamic trick that’s been brought over from both the Vision EQ XX – the low-drag, super-slippery and efficient prototype that has repeatedly clocked more than one thousand kilometres on a single battery charge – as well as the GT XX. When fully receded, the diffuser is designed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency but, when fully extended, its aim shifts to focus on high-speed stability. It deploys automatically at 74mph (so it’s a good marker for if you’re speeding in the UK…) or can be manually deployed in the car.
Speaking of the interior…
A lot of this will be largely unsurprising in here. It’s a proper performance car interior with plenty of microfibre upholstery, a chunky steering wheel beset with AMG’s usual suite of customisable switches, thickly bolstered performance seats and a shallow glasshouse that almost gives the impression it’s a two-door.
Dr. Claus Schulte-Cörne, head of e-drive at AMG, says: ‘axial flux motors have about 70 per cent less length and overall volume, but our power and torque density is two, maybe three times higher [than a conventional radial motor used by almost all other EVs on the road].’ AMG engineers claim better reliability, but their much smaller size means they’re also easier to repair – and better for heat dissipation. ‘In a regular motor, the rotor is deep inside a large housing,’ says Schulte-Cörne, ‘so you cannot get any heat transfer. With these axial motors, we have a much bigger surface area for much better heat transfer.’
Naturally, the battery pack has to be pretty hardy too. The new AMG.EA platform launches with a battery configuration that uses slim cylindrical cells that engineers say are best for cooling, enabling much better endurance in the long run.
The result is convincing; pressing the throttle elicits a deep, bellowing bark from speakers built into the car that’s audible both inside and out. But there’s more to it than that; there are pops and bangs when you lift off like the tastiest of performance exhausts and intricate vibrations in the seat provide an entirely persuasive tactility to the tech that even Hyundai can’t offer. The paddles work like a dual-clutch transmission, enabling you to ‘shift’ gears with a corresponding torque dip from the e-motors; the only difference between this and Hyundai’s technology is there is no synthetic redline that cuts power here.
When and how much?
AMG says you’ll be able to order a new GT four-door very soon, with production starting in the summer of 2026.