At the IAA auto show in Munich, Mercedes-Benz announced that its prototype AMG GT XX concept was a significant step forward in charging electric cars. Using a single liquid-cooled charging wire, the AMG GT XX idea reached a top charging speed of almost 1 megawatt and kept its power for several minutes. The achievement wasn’t just for show; the car company plans to start using some of the new technologies soon. Mercedes-Benz wants to completely change the market for charging electric vehicles. Even though the driving range is important, it’s not always the most important thing to think about when talking about electric cars. In August, the Mercedes-AMG GT XX prototype set a number of marks. It can now charge at speeds of 1 megawatt. People often use the term “DC fast-charging” to talk about cars and charging stations that can hit peak speeds of up to 350 kW. The number has increased to 400 kW over the last few years. Mercedes was able to charge its AMG GT XX concept car at a top speed of 1014 kW, going from 0 to 1000 kW in less than a second. The idea was able to maintain its power above 1000 kW for more than two and a half minutes, which may be even more impressive than its top speed. The AMG GT XX used 17.3 kWh of energy in one minute, according to Mercedes. This is almost the same amount of energy that a Toyota RAV4 PHEV’s battery can hold. Two things make the charging so very fast. The first is the battery in the idea. Mercedes claims to have a new and innovative direct cooling system that prevents the vehicle from overheating. An electrically nonconductive lubricant is used in this way to keep the battery’s nearly 3000 cylindrical NCMA cells at the right temperature. The second part is stored inside the charging wire. A liquid-cooled CCS charging cable that was originally made for big electric trucks was changed to work with the charge station. The results don’t matter since the AMG GT XX is just a concept car, and obtaining the charging number, no matter how impressive, required a prototype charging station and a charge connection. However, Mercedes informed us that the improvements made during testing are on their way to production. For both the production model of the AMG GT and the AMG.The EA base it runs on will utilize the direct-cooled battery from the prototype. Brand plans to release a new version of 600-kW chargers in North America that are similar to the test prototype in terms of how they are set up to charge cars. Even though most people won’t accept long-distance electric cars any time soon, the arguments against them are losing support.
