Mercedes-Benz is giving us a look at what a future hypercar from the brand could look and feel like with the debut of the Vision One-Eleven concept. Mercedes is calling it a “sports car study” and it borrows styling cues from the C 111 experimental vehicles from the 1960s and 70s, which were used to test Wankel and turbodiesel engines.
The Vision One-Eleven’s styling is inspired by the C 111 prototype and is painted in a bright orange with gullwing doors. The sleek C 111 sits pretty low to the ground with its height coming in at just 46 inches high. At the front an oval panel sits where a grille would normally be with pixelated LEDs that are similar to the C 111’s fog lights. The panel can display messages to pedestrians and other drivers. There’s also a panel at the rear also with a pixelated pattern. The wheels are also designed to mimic the windings inside electric motors.
Inside the cabin has room for two passengers. Mercedes calls it a “lounge concept” with two modes. In race mode the backrests are moved upright, while in lounge mode the seats are integrated into the interior more. Since there isn’t the need for a motor behind the rear seats, the interior is allowed to extend rearward, providing a more airy cockpit than we normally see in hypercars.
The One-Eleven concept is powered by an axial-flux motor, which Mercedes says is “exceptionally powerful”. The battery is built by a British company called YASA. Mercedes is working on developing the technology for its future EVs, since it says that axial-flux motors weigh one-third as much as a similarly powerful radial-flux unit. The new motor also takes up less space. The battery is made out of “liquid-cooled cylindrical cells with a novel cell chemistry”.
