Mercedes-AMG GT XX “Drives Around the World” in Under Eight Days

Mercedes-Benz has rediscovered an old publicity trick: drive endlessly in circles, then declare the world conquered. AMG’s latest experiment, the GT XX concept, spent eight days on Italy’s Nardò test track, racking up 40,075 kilometers—the length of Earth’s equator. The press release calls it a circumnavigation, though in reality it was 3,177 relentless laps of concrete oval.

The brand highlights a string of new records: 5,479 kilometers in 24 hours, 25,000 miles in under eight days, an average of 5,300 kilometers per day. Impressive on paper, but the context matters. This was an entirely artificial exercise: two identical cars, professional drivers rotating shifts, a flawless test track, a constant 300 km/h pace, and recharging at a scarcely believable 850 kW. None of this reflects consumer reality. What AMG staged was closer to a laboratory stress test, designed to show how far an electric powertrain can be pushed when freed from the real-world limits of infrastructure.

The GT XX is presented as production-ready technology, built around three motors and an oil-cooled battery claimed to sustain more than 1,000 kW continuously. That is notable, especially since axial-flux electric motors have so far remained a niche curiosity. The fact that the car endured a week of flat-out running without electrical or thermal breakdown is a clear testament to durability.

Mercedes-AMG insists this technology will soon trickle down into reality, launching next year on the new AMG.EA electric platform. That could finally deliver an AMG EV capable of sustained performance rather than short-lived bursts. The real question is how much of this futuristic charging and cooling tech will survive the transition to customer cars—and whether the world’s charging infrastructure will be able to keep pace with an 850 kW appetite any time soon.