Production of the Mercedes-AMG ONE begins: only 275 units will be built

Those fortunate enough to have their name on the list of the 275 future owners of the Mercedes-AMG ONE have every reason to celebrate: the German brand has already begun manufacturing its new supercar, with the aim of starting to deliver the first units to customers before the end of 2022.

The plug-in hybrid powertrain of the Mercedes-AMG ONE is manufactured at the Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains facility in Brixworth, where the power units for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team’s single-seaters are also developed and produced. The car is assembled in Coventry (United Kingdom). Let us recall that the AMG ONE uses a 1.6-litre V6 turbo engine with forced induction and up to four electric motors, delivering a total system output of 1,063 CV.

Handcrafted across 16 assembly stations

Recently we have talked a great deal about the Mercedes-AMG ONE and its technical specifications. We even told you how demanding it can be to drive. Today we are going to take a closer look at the manufacturing process of such a special vehicle, which differs greatly from what we know of mass-produced models.

Very few robots are involved in assembling the Mercedes-AMG ONE: it is carried out entirely by hand by highly qualified personnel, across up to 16 stations. The process is so meticulous that many components are assembled separately and tested individually before being installed in the vehicle. The bodywork and the carbon-fibre monocoque follow this method, for instance, where even the final paint thickness must be taken into account so that everything fits perfectly. Note that the carbon fibre in some areas measures just 1.2 millimetres thick.

The V6 turbo engine, the high-voltage battery and the electric motors, that is, the elements that make up the hybrid powertrain, are first tested on the dynamometer at Brixworth, just as is done with the engines of F1 single-seaters. While the mechanical parts and low-voltage components are fitted at the first four stations, the installation of the high-voltage battery, engine testing and commissioning take place at stations 5 and 6.

50 specialists to build each Mercedes-AMG ONE

Before moving on to station 8, where the body panels, doors and bonnet are fitted, the interior is installed. During stages 9 and 10 the bodywork is completed, followed by the fitting of the wheels and the vehicle’s floor panels, and the lighting units are adjusted before station 13, where the car goes onto the rolling road to check the operation of all the driving modes. At station 14 the soundproofing and vibration test is carried out, and at station 15 the vehicle is subjected to adverse weather conditions to check its watertightness. Finally, station 16 is for the visual inspection of the vehicle and the technical checks of the correct operation of its systems.

Up to 50 specialists take part in total in the various manufacturing stages of the Mercedes-AMG ONE, and the process does not end here. The final stage is a real-world road test on a track set up for the purpose very close to the factory, where a factory test driver gives the go-ahead for each ONE unit to be transferred to Mercedes-AMG’s headquarters in Affalterbach, where it will be handed over to each customer, who will receive a special briefing from the brand’s experts to get to know every detail of their new car.

Mercedes AMG-ONE – Image gallery