Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven: Historical Preview

Meet the Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven. The number written out in his name is important. Mercedes-Benz refers to the experimental C 111 cars from the 1960s and 1970s. The first C 111 had a rotary engine behind the front seats and Mercedes-Benz fanatically followed the diesel path for later C 111s, but also in this Vision One -Eleven we find interesting technique. First the appearance, because the show car also winks at its predecessors.

First of all, the orange color in which the Vision One-Eleven is executed, is a reference to the C 111s and in particular to the C 111-II that Mercedes-Benz has also parked next to the attention grabber for the occasion. Just like the C 111 II, the Vision One-Eleven has gull-wing doors that take a large part of the roof with them when opening. You can also see a clear link with its distant ancestor in the way in which Mercedes-Benz has filled in the lighting of the study model. The Vision One-Eleven is only 1.17 meters low and, according to its creators, glides particularly efficiently through the wind. Striking is the pixelated pattern that Mercedes-Benz applies to the doors and the fierce-looking light metal on which the show car stands. A large diffuser can apparently not be missing on a show car like this, which should look like a super car, so this Vision One-Eleven also has one.

Inside are the references to the seventies properly represented. Just look at the silver-colored seat upholstery and the abundance of orange-colored and mostly leather details. According to Mercedes-Benz, we are dealing here with the first sports car with a lounge interior. As a direct vision of the future, the Vision One-Eleven can also be driven autonomously. In race mode, the back of the driver’s seat is upright. In loungemode transforms the interior into a minimalist space complete with chairs operating in relax mode. A screen with coarse pixels runs across the entire width of the dashboard on which things such as speed are displayed. You should also be able to operate various things via augmented reality – so with special glasses on.

Then the drivetrain. Mercedes speaks about the presence of one axial flux motor and a new type of battery with cylindrical, liquid-cooled cells with a new composition. For the powertrain, Mercedes-Benz has called up its AMG High Performance Powertrain department in Brixworth, England. And for the electric motor, Mercedes-Benz has sought help from YASA, which was purchased by the brand in 2021. Axial flux motors – the currently common electric motors are radial flux motors – have been around for a long time, but are rarely used due to their complexity. They are smaller, more compact and often more powerful than the currently common electric motors. An axial flux motor weighs only a third of what a conventional ‘radial flux motor’ weighs.

How exactly it works, let us explain to you by Tim Woolmer, founder and CTO of YASA: “In an axial flux motor, the current flows perpendicular to the axis of rotation. Compared to radial flux motors, axial flux motors have significantly higher and more sustainable power reserves, which brings a whole new level of performance.” Thanks Tim.

Mercedes-Benz says it will use the type of electric motor in new sporty models. The Vision One-Eleven itself does not go into production, but it is therefore not for nothing!