Debuting nearly six years ago, the Mercedes-AMG One hypercar has been a problem child for Mercedes-Benz. The automaker wanted to deliver customer cars in 2019, but it turns out, adapting a modern Formula 1 engine for road use is more complicated than it once seemed, and the project has suffered numerous delays. Mercedes-AMG finally has road-registered cars testing, but the problems haven't stopped yet. According to The Sun, an AMG One burned to a crisp on a highway in England while on some sort of transport truck.
A Mercedes spokesperson told The Sun that "[w]e are aware of this incident involving a car that was being transported in a closed trailer as part of its assembly process." The automaker also said no one was injured as a result of the fire, and that it's investigating what happened. While there's not much car left, it's easy to tell this is an AMG One because of its distinctive inboard suspension.
The Sun reports the car caught fire somewhere on the M6 motorway in Staffordshire. The engine for the AMG One is built by Mercedes High Performance Powertrains, in Brixworth in the neighboring region of West Northamptonshire, while the assembly of the car happens in a facility set up in Coventry by Mercedes and engineering firm Multimatic. The complete car then goes to AMG's facility in Affalterbach, Germany for customer handover. Production of the AMG One began last August, though it's unclear how many customers have received cars.
Given that the fire apparently started while the car was on a truck, and that as The Sun reports, firefighters weren't able to stop the blaze, one imagines this could be the result of a battery fire. The AMG One uses a lithium-ion battery to power up its four electric motors–two on the front axle, one sandwiched between engine and gearbox, one spooling up the exhaust-gas turbocharger—and as we've seen many times before, lithium-ion battery fires are hard to put out.
With its protracted development, Mercedes wants this project off its hands. Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius, who was the company's R&D head when the One was announced, jokingly suggested the board was drunk when it signed off on the project. This is yet another setback for a car that doesn't need any more.
A car enthusiast since childhood, Chris Perkins is Road & Track's engineering nerd and Porsche apologist. He joined the staff in 2016 and no one has figured out a way to fire him since. He street-parks a Porsche Boxster in Brooklyn, New York, much to the horror of everyone who sees the car, not least the author himself. He also insists he's not a convertible person, despite owning three.
