Mercedes-AMG’s new high performance GT XX concept – the recently revealed super-saloon that previews the next AMG GT 4-door coupé – has set a new electric car distance record having travelled 3405 miles in 24 hours.
The new record, which was independently verified, was set at the Nardò test track in Italy where the concept achieved a claimed average speed of 186mph and only stopped to rapid charge at up to 900kW.
It beats the previous record of 2461 miles set by the XPeng P7 earlier this month. Previous record attempts include the 2451 miles achieved by the Xiaomi YU7 Max and the 2310 miles recorded by the Mercedes-Benz CLA.
The 24-hour achievement was one of several new records claimed by Mercedes-AMG during an extensive eight-day testing campaign at the 7.8-mile Nardò ring. Other records broken by the GT XX include endurance marks for 12, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144 and 168 hours, alongside new distance benchmarks for 2000, 5000, 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 and 25,000 miles.
The stand-out achievement came as the GT XX travelled 24,907 miles (the circumference of Earth) non-stop on Nardo's high-speed oval in fewer than eight days - seven days, 13 hours, 24m:07.10s - to be exact. As a nod to Jules Verne’s famous novel, the bid was titled “Around the World in 80 Days”.
The various records were achieved using two cars and a team of 17 professional drivers drawn from Mercedes-AMG's GT3 motorsport programme - and also including Mercedes-AMG F1 driver George Russell.
They worked in three-shift rotation, with five drivers present for each eight-hour stint. A trackside engineering and logistics crew, plus a mission control team managing charging strategy from Mercedes-AMG's Affalterbach headquarters in Germany, totalled more than 100 personnel across the eight-day programme.
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Yep, it would require 900v capability chargers to be widely available which at the moment just isn't going to happen quick enough,yes, a quick five minute 250 miles top up would be ideal for most of us it's the initial outlay for the car that most can't afford and the 900v ability won't be cheap enough to fit into lesser models,oh, and I'm not a fan of the red accents especially the illuminated AUDI rings on the hatch at the rear.
That's an incredible feat of engineering! 3405 miles in 24 hours is seriously impressive. The rapid charging at 900kW must have been crucial. Makes you wonder what the real-world range will be like for regular drivers, though. Hopefully, it's not as frustrating as trying to avoid cacti in the Dinosaur Game with lagging internet! This record definitely pushes the boundaries of what we thought electric cars could achieve.