Mercedes-AMG ONE launch pushed back two years
F1-engine powered hypercar hit with big delays due to complexity of turning racy concept into road-going carDeliveries of the $5 million Mercedes-AMG ONE have been pushed back until 2021 because the team of engineers who developed it reportedly underestimated the challenges of adapting its F1-derived engine for road use.
According to German site
, the sold-out AMG ONE, first customer deliveries of which were supposed to take place later this year, has been delayed in part due to issues around adapting the 746kW 1.6-litre V6 hybrid powertrain to meet stricter WLTP emission regs that demand more than one particulate filter to be fitted.Apart from passing emission tests, the issues facing AMG engineers are numerous and include everything from struggling with the fragile nature of the small-capacity V6 that, in race trim, needs to be electrically pre-heated up to temperature before it even turns over.
Speaking to the German mag, an AMG insider said: "Both the engine colleagues at Mercedes-AMG's High Performance Powertrain in England and Mercedes and AMG in Germany underestimated the task of this engine."
Originally, the Project ONE concept was claimed to be capable of a 350km/h top speed and 0-100km/h acceleration in less than 2.5 seconds, plus a 25km pure-electric range.
Featuring an advanced V6 that spins to 11,000rpm, the hybrid-powered AMG ONE utilises not one but four electric motors providing all-wheel drive.
Just 275 will be made, costing $5 million each, with eight left-hand drive versions destined for Australia.
The delay for Mercedes-AMG is embarrassing both for the car-maker and race team as the ONE had been created to rival the Aston Martin Valkyrie that was developed in partnership with Red Bull.
According to the German title, in the paddock the Mercedes-AMG ONE has been cheekily nicknamed by Red Bull employees as the 'Project Twenty-One'.
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