Mercedes-Benz AMG One review

The basic price for an AMG One, before options like a funky livery or the magnesium wheels, is £2.4 million (€2.275m plus local taxes). Only 275 are being produced at a special F1-grade facility in the UK, and they’re all sold. Mercedes says it has no plans to offer a roadster or somehow turn the wick up and give us a ‘Black Series’ version.

There’s been lots of rumour about the One’s specialised F1 V6 engine needing a full factory rebuild after 50,000km or about 31,000 miles. Some say the price for the procedure will be around €850,000.

The engineers say that’s not quite right: each car’s engine life will depend on how the owner has used it. Ones that do lots of track days will need to visit the mothership for a tear down earlier than Ones that just visit Cars and Coffee. But AMG is defiant, pointing out an F1 engine usually requires a team of experts to start it, doesn’t run on normal petrol, idles at 5,000rpm instead of the road car’s 1,200rpm, and needs throwing in the bin after three races.

What’s more, because the AMG One has a modest 11-mile electric range thanks to its 8.4kWh battery, the official economy is 32mpg, with CO2 emissions rated at 198g/km. In the eyes of the official test, this 1,000bhp moonshot is kinder to the environment than a BMW M3.

Stretching the economy will be useful, since the fuel tank is tiny: just 55 litres. Careful on those track days – you might need to do a bit of F1-style fuel-saving and then box, box, box.