New Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven Is The C111’s All-Electric Successor

The Mercedes-Benz C111 experimental prototype is one of the most iconic sportscar to came out of the 1970s. Although just a mere prototype, this fabulous model gained its iconic status due to its radical styling that features gullwing-style doors, wedgy silhouette and many more.

2023 Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven Concept EV

As the 21st century and the dawn of electromobility beckon, Mercedes-Benz decided to finally give the C111 a well-deserved homage, in the form of the all-electric Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven concept. Unveiled this week at Mercedes-Benz’s International Design Center in Carlsbad, California, the Vision One-Eleven boasts enough quirks and features to make it a deserving ‘successor’.

At a glance, the Vision One-Eleven truly resembles the C111, but in a more futuristic 21st century-appropriate manner. From the front, the Vision One-Eleven sports the same oval-shaped front bumper opening with two rounded lights and a pair of triple-striped vents placed at both ends. Both cars also come with the same big three-point-star logo on its hood, plus a distinctive dual hood vents, with the only missing parts being the old model’s pop-up headlights.

More importantly, the Vision One-Eleven sports the gullwing-style doors – a signature styling element in many Merc models with its lineage can be traced all the way back to the legendary 300SL. Aside from that, this concept EV also comes with aggressive aero parts, including the front splitter with side canards, rear diffuser, as well as the side skirts with prominent fins – both finished in black instead of the body’s bright orange hue.

Unlike the old C111, however, the Vision One-Eleven swaps its predecessor’s fossil-powered powertrain setup for an all-electric one. The Vision One-Eleven’s EV powertrain setup is no ordinary one, as it features axial-flux electric motors that are designed by YASA – a UK-based technology subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz. This motor setup takes less space compared to the conventional synchronous magnet ones, enabling the Vision One-Eleven to sit as close to the ground as possible.

With each YASA-built electric motor capable of producing 250 kW, it is possible that the Vision One-Eleven will sport four of them – one for each wheel. This, in turn, theoretically grants this concept EV a total system output of up to 1,000 kW (1,341 HP). However, don’t take our word for it as this is all theoretical, as Mercedes-Benz never announced anything about the concept’s output.

Aside from giving it the same sporty stance as the C111, the Vision One-Eleven’s low stance also enabled it to be equipped with the sporty bucket seats with Formula One-style seating position inside the cabin. Highlights of this silver-orange-themed cabin include the stunning display that runs across the front dash, full-length canopy glass, as well as the square-shaped steering wheel finished in orange.

Should you find the pixelated dash display a tad bit too retro for your taste, you can put on the Magic Leap 2 augmented reality (AR) headset which turns the entire car into a user interface, and even allows you to see right through the A-pillars.

It is important to note that the Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven is just a mere concept model that serves as a styling exercise for Merc designers, not an actual future production model. The unlikeliness of this concept EV being a production model is evident from the fact that Mercedes-Benz didn’t even unveil any real technical details about the car.

So folks, what do you think of the all-new Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven concept? Is this a worthy homage to the iconic C111 prototype? Or is it more worthy of being a successor to the Mercedes-AMG One as the brand’s next-gen halo hypercar? Drop your thoughts in the comments below, then…