Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe: New Axial Flux Motors Launch a Hypercar-Grade EV

Mercedes-Benz has launched series production of an axial flux electric motor in Berlin. For AMG, this is more than just a new component: YASA technology, talked about in the industry for decades, is reaching this level of output for the first time and going straight into the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe.

Production has been set up at the Berlin-Marienfelde plant, the oldest Mercedes-Benz site, operating since 1902. The programme occupies 30,000 sq m, three halls and seven lines. Of the 98 production operations, 35 are described as world-firsts, and the project has generated more than 30 patent applications.

An axial flux motor is built on a different principle from the conventional radial design. The magnetic flux runs along the axis of rotation, with the stator sandwiched between two rotors in a flat “disc” layout. This architecture delivers high power density in a smaller package. Britain’s YASA, owned by Mercedes-Benz since 2021, was the company that brought this architecture to series-production maturity.

The new AMG GT 4-Door Coupe runs three of these motors inside its High Performance Electric Drive Units. The headline figures are 0-100 km/h in 2.1 seconds and a top speed of 300 km/h. For a large four-door EV, that is hypercar territory — achieved without a V8 under the hood and without a conventional gearbox.

The assembly line has its share of unusual steps too: laser welding of copper coils, AI-driven optical inspection during polymer welding, and final assembly involving magnetic forces of up to 9 kN with the stator held within 0.1 mm tolerance. This kind of engineering still sits firmly in the premium-EV niche — a reference point for where the most expensive electric cars are heading.

AMG electric cars used to be measured by their roar and acceleration. Now the real contest is over who can build the lightest and most power-dense motor.