Mercedes-Benz One-Eleven: C-111 Homage with Axial-Flux Motor

The AMG-One deserves respect: Technically, they actually managed to build a Formula 1 engine into a production model, buuut: Visually, the result remained uninspiring to easily confusable, and the technology is horrendously expensive to maintain! Hence the decision to start afresh, because: With the YASA axial-flux motor, they have a compact and efficient electric drive source in-house, and with the C111, a cult design that, after some prototypes, unfortunately never made it to production.

All in orange!

Since design boss Gorden Wagener hates edges and the C111 with its round front headlights already suggested curves, the 1.17-meter flat study was "round" — literally: you can immediately recognize the C111 in it and yet it is futuristic and independent. And in California's Carlsbad, Wagener can once again demonstrate what the much-maligned "One-Bow" design is really capable of!

To improve aerodynamics, they laboriously crafted aero flaps and let the One-Eleven hover very close to the ground, making it almost "merge" with it. This didn't necessarily simplify loading and unloading at the design center and in Carlsbad — but the whole thing still appears coherent.

Inside, you almost have to lie down rather than "sit" and an AR headset helps to compensate for the lack of visibility. The driver or passenger finds themselves on firm cushions and grabs a (once again) fashionable square steering wheel. Not suitable for fast driving, which is why you can also have it all more upright and autonomously driven — according to Wagener, the seat cushions should then at least visually merge with the sill, the center tunnel, and the luggage compartment into a kind of "unity".

The environment can be programmed as needed

And if you should once again find yourself stuck in traffic in bad weather in a miserable environment, the so-called "Magic Leap 2 Augmented Reality" pieces can help: AR glasses then blend the real environment with context-dependent content. And, as with Audi, user interfaces or navigation maps can now also be displayed here. And in fog or darkness, the surroundings can appear brighter and more pleasant.

The axial flux motor offers the same power in one-third the volume

And the drive? It has become smaller than ever, because in the axial flux motor the electromagnetic flux runs parallel to the drive's rotational axis and not perpendicular to it as usual. This makes the e-machine more powerful and narrower and lighter than conventional radial flux drives. That is why it has been placed at the outer ends of the rear axle - just like in the One Eleven, where it was paired with an extremely maintenance-intensive Formula 1 combustion engine, which would likely spend more time in regular service than on the track. The axial flux drive may be a bit more expensive, but it is essential for AMG. The production is specifically planned in Berlin-Marienfelde – starting from 2025, also in electric AMG models, which will then be built in Sindelfingen on the special electric platform AMG.EA. And as a top model, an orange flat supercar like the One-Eleven? Why not?

What does that mean?

Mercedes-Benz is testing the waters with the One-Eleven to see how customers might react to a future hypercar. Since the C111 was already so unique that it stood alone in its field, there is nothing against eventually producing this futuristic supercar in series – not again as a "visual oddity", but as an optionally orange Mercedes super sports car that they simply didn't dare to make over 50 years ago!