In July 2021 Mercedes-Benz AG announced the acquisition of YASA Ltd in Oxford, UK.
What started as conversation on the supply of groundbreaking axial flux EV motors for the next generation of all-electric AMG performance models, quickly became a meeting of minds, built on a shared commitment to engineering excellence, innovation, and the shaping of performance EV’s for the fast-developing electric age.
Mercedes-Benz's investment in the UK has helped YASA double the size of its Design, Development, Testing and Manufacturing teams.
A new development line was put in place in Oxfordshire, focusing on the work required to take manufacturing capability from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, specifically for AMG, whilst increasing the performance of the motors themselves.
This investment ethos was matched in Germany, with a refitting of one of the oldest Mercedes-Benz plants, in Berlin, to be focused on the mass production of YASA powertrains for future Mercedes-Benz models.
In June 2023, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the Vision One-Eleven concept, a fully electric vehicle that pays homage to the groundbreaking C111 of the 1970s
Like its predecessor, the Vision One-Eleven demonstrates technologies that will be found in Mercedes-Benz vehicles as we move to the end of the decade. Central to this was the inclusion of YASA axial flux motors, demonstrating how the technology could be implemented in the future.
"This is the first time in my 25 years with Mercedes-Benz that a propulsion technology was given such focus and alongside a concept vehicle, and it received excellent reviews.
The Mercedes Vision One-Eleven demonstrates that there are exciting opportunities ahead, not least due to the fact that the YASA axial flux motors are already a third of the weight and volume, but crucially also deliver twice as much torque compared with the best radial flux EV motor technology available today."
Former Chairman Konstantin Neiss (2023)
Journalist Ricky Roy, of Two Bit da Vinci and The Fully Charged Show, explains the YASA axial flux motor at the launch of the Mercedes Vision One-Eleven
