Mercedes Vision One-Eleven's E-Motors Are Bigger News Than You Think

This tiny electric motor is small enough to be housed within the car's wheel. That leaves even more room within the chassis for passengers and luggage or an additional battery pack for even more range. But the most significant benefit is how these motors can be incorporated into the entire Mercedes-Benz range once it goes fully electric and finally removes the silly EQ designation.

Once each wheel has a dedicated motor, Mercedes can run several drivetrain options without breaking the bank. You can have front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, and all-wheel drive without a mechanical connection. The chosen setup will obviously depend on the vehicle.

Two easy examples are the upcomingCLA and GLC EVs. Mercedes can restrict the power of the axial-flux motors slightly because a FWD (or RWD, for that matter) compact car doesn't need 960 hp and 1,180 lb-ft of torque for a two-motor car. Or who knows? We are talking about a company that sells a 577-hp brick.

Speaking of that brick, we know theall-electric G-Class is coming, and while many may hate the idea of an electric off-roader,there are many benefits. Imagine dune bashing in a car with over 1,000 hp, available from 1 rpm. All four wheels will be able to act independently, so if you are stuck in an axle twister, a few lines of code will tell the two wheels with the power to put it all down. We can only imagine what fun Merc's engineers must be having developing a new series of driving modes for this advanced drivetrain.

But it's not the standard motors we're most excited about. You can have a car with up to 1,920 hp and 2,360 lb-ft of torque with a motor at each corner. That's more power than a Rimac Nevera, which recently shattered almost every acceleration record.

The fun continues beyond there, too. Electric vehicles often use cheat devices like rear-wheel steering to make heavy cars feel more nimble. An independently driven wheel at every corner gives Mercedes the tools to design a next-generationtorque vectoring system. Most of these systems are brake-based, but imagine the possibilities if you can use both regenerative braking and power to achieve previously unheard-of cornering forces.

Aim the nose of the car at a tight left-hander. The regenerative braking on the front left wheel will kick in first, joined a split second later by the left rear wheel. This will help the car turn in harder. We've seen this before. But what if the right side of the vehicle can feed power to the wheels, already ramping up the acceleration until the car is straight and all four wheels can unleash their full fury? The potential electric successor to the梅赛德斯amg一is going to be insane.

We know these motors are coming, and we can't wait to see the technology Merc builds around all the potential.