Merc concept sets stage for new sports car

Mercedes' stunning new concept points to a Mercedes-AMG sports car, using British tech, that's expected to arrive in 2025

- Steve Fowler

MERCEDES' latest Vision concept car, the fifth in the series, harks back to the sixties and seventies, with a modern take on the brand's famous 'gullwing' C111 experimental concepts.

Like those cars, the new Vision OneEleven is more about the technology under the skin than design, being a showcase for new EV powertrain systems developed by Oxford-based company YASA, which is now owned by Mercedes-Benz.

The One-Eleven was revealed at an exclusive event at Mercedes' design HQ in California, alongside a C111 - both in striking orange paintwork and with gullwing doors lifting towards the sky.

Yet although the car was driven on stage by Mercedes chief design officer Gorden Wagener, the star of the show was YASA's founder Tim Woolmer and his company's compact axial-flux electric motors.

These new high-powered, lightweight motors not only feature in the One-Eleven concept, but are also likely to power a new, all-electric Mercedes-AMG sports car set to be unveiled in 2025. Although that car is unlikely to take cues from the design of the concept, the smart motors and the OneEleven's battery pack - which features high performance liquid-cooled cylindrical cells - are expected to make production.