Garrett E-Turbo Jumps from F1 to Mercedes-AMG Production

Mercedes is the first to announce this electric turbocharger for a production model.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

June 25, 2020

2 Min Read
2020 Mercedes-AMG F1 small.jpeg

2020 Mercedes-AMG F1 small.jpeg

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 race car employs an e-turbo that functions like the new production unit. Image source: Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1

Daimler-Benz’s high-performance Mercedes-AMG division has stepped forward as the first carmaker to introduce a production model using Garrett Motion’s electric turbocharger. The German sporting brand has not revealed specifically which model will employ the turbocharger first, but the connection to the company’s Formula 1 cars makes it an obvious technology for Mercedes-AMG to feature in road cars.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team has won six consecutive F1 driver’s and manufacturer’s championships using similar electric turbocharger technology. These devices offer the possibility of rapid throttle response in a turbo with a larger turbine, which would normally have correspondingly slower-responding boost because of its greater inertia.

Mercedes Garrett turbo 3.jpeg

Image source: Mercedes-Benz

The electric motor not only spins the turbine up more quickly, but it also works as a generator the rest of the time, charging a 48-volt battery pack with free energy recovered from the engine’s exhaust stream, as we discussed in this previous article on the technology. Mercedes says that the electric motor generator inserted between the turbo’s impeller and compressor turbines measures just 1.6 inches in thickness.

Related:How Garrett Motion's E-Turbos Leapt From the Race Track to the Showroom

At peak power, the turbo spins at 170,000 rpm, pumping a huge volume of air into the engine’s intake.

"We have clearly defined our goals for an electrified future,” explained Tobias Moers, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. “In order to reach them, we are relying on discrete and highly innovative components as well as assemblies. With this move we are strategically supplementing our modular technology and tailoring it to our performance requirements. In a first step this includes the electrified turbocharger - an example of the transfer of Formula 1 technology to the road, something with which we will take turbocharged combustion engines to a previously unattainable level of agility,"

Turbo supplier Garrett has said previously that the technology can yield efficiency gains of as much as 10 percent, and that it is working on production programs with ten different car manufacturers, so this Mercedes announcement of production plans is only the first of many.

Mercedes Garrett Turbo diagram.jpeg

Image source: Mercedes-Benz

Dan Carney is a Design News senior editor, covering automotive technology, engineering and design, especially emerging electric vehicle and autonomous technologies.

 

About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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