The technology of the AMG E Performance: hybrids over 820 hp and electric turbo

The technology of the AMG E Performance: hybrids over 820 hp and electric turbo

The Mercedes sports department reveals the secrets of the new electrified powertrains, including ad hoc batteries and technologies never seen before

Mercedes AMG and electrification: a relationship announced with the creation of the specific E Performance department. But how does the shock towards the future of the sports division of the Mercedes group translate into facts? Simple, in hybrid and electric models that promise very high performance.

The first car under the new logo is the AMG Project One. This monster adopts the powertrain of Formula 1 cars, just retouched to make it compatible with standard gasoline and to last longer than what drives Lewis Hamilton's single-seaters and Valtteri Bottas.

Between pure electric and hybrid

But in addition to the limited-edition hypercar (already sold out), the E Performance department will also get its hands on the "normal" production cars of the Star House. Both on those with zero emissions built based on the EVA platform and the hybrid ones.

Regarding the former, the manufacturer has not yet issued precise information, limiting itself to saying that they will have performance and a driving feeling in line with the values ​​of the three magical letters that adorn the worst models of the Star. I went into detail for the latter technicians to explain how the hybrid powertrains of the AMGs of the near future will work.

With 4 or 8 cylinders

The hybrid scheme uses a four or 8-cylinder internal combustion engine as a starting point. The first will be used on compact models with transverse powertrain ( Class A and derivatives, in short), the second on cars with the longitudinal layout. Whatever the engine, the hybrid powertrain combines a permanently excited synchronous electric unit, and a High-Performance battery developed directly in Affalterbach, where AMG is headquartered. All E Performance branded Mercedes also have 4Matic + all-wheel drive with specific calibration.

The electric motor, positioned at the rear like the battery, is integrated into a two-speed electrically engaged gearbox that engages the second gear at speeds above 140 km/h and an electronically controlled self-locking differential. In the more powerful versions, it can deliver the beauty of 204 HP and 320 Nm to the rear wheels but, in the event of excessive slippage of the rear axle, it can also transfer part of the drive to the front. This configuration, which the engineers have called P3, offers many advantages.

• The electric motor acts directly on the wheels without going through the gearbox combined with the endothermic unit, avoiding delivery delays.
• The integration with the differential allows better acceleration out of corners.
• Organ positioning improves weight balance.
• Mechanical and hydraulic losses are minimized by increasing energy recovery. 

A racing battery

Also, developed The battery for the hybrid systems used on E Performance cars was in Affalterbach: it has 70 kW of continuous power, 150 kW of peak power, and 89 kg. It is equipped with a system that, for the first time, cools the 560 cells individually. AMG engineers had to redesign the cooling modules to achieve this different heat management, reducing their thickness to just a few millimeters.

Also new is the high-performance electric pump that circulates the 14 liters of coolant from top to bottom throughout the battery, passing alongside each cell and also passing through a heat exchanger applied directly to the accumulator, which allows maintaining a constant temperature of 435 degrees: optimal operating value. 

Six driving programs

On Mercedes, AMG Hybrid will be available six driving programs. It starts from the Comfort one and arrives at Race passing through Electric, Sport, Sport + and Individual. For each, the setting of steering, response of the accelerator, the Esp's intervention thresholds, the operation of the gearbox, the exhaust system, and the hardness of the pneumatic suspension change.

On the hybrid AMG, you can also choose between 4 levels for energy recovery. It starts from Level 0, which makes the vehicle behave as if it were equipped with a standard thermal powertrain, and reaches Level 3, which is the one with the most intense regenerative braking even in the release phases and allows "one-pedal" driving.

There is talk of more than 800 hp.

With the arrival of the hybrid, AMG will reach new records of power and torque delivered. The House declares that there will be figures of more than 820 HP and more than 1,000 Nm of torque on the more powerful versions, which will result in 0-100 accelerations in less than 3". at least, concerns cars powered by 8-cylinder engines.

But even on smaller units, such as the 2-liter and 4-cylinder, performance will be nothing short of brilliant. In this case, thanks to the arrival of the electric exhaust gas turbocharger, This is an absolute novelty on a production vehicle that derives directly from the company's experience in Formula 1, which adopts the same technology on Project One hypercar.

The debut of the electric turbo

It integrates a small electric motor (it's 4 centimeters thick) between the turbine wheel on the discharge side and the suction side's compressor wheel. The engine is electronically driven and directly drives the turbocharger, accelerating the compressor impeller itself before it is set in motion by the exhaust gases, accelerating response times, and ensuring greater reactivity even at low revs.

In this way, a thermal engine capable of delivering more than 450 hp can be obtained and combined with a 204 hp electric motor. It means reaching higher power levels than standard non-hybrid AMG V8 vehicles achieve.