Mercedes has their eyes set on the future with their new concept car unveiled at CES 2015, the Mercedes-Benz F015. Word is we will be seeing this all-around automated machine riding the asphalt in about 15 years.
The vision of the German company on the Mercedes-Benz F015 concept is a fully automated, electric powered vehicle, that drives itself and keeps the passengers connected to the world beyond the car. Quite nice ay? Catch a quick nap while on route to work in a relaxing, private environment, quite the mind-blower I would say. The head of Mercedes Benz cars and the chairman of Daimler stated in a presentation at CES 2015 that: “The car is growing beyond its role as a mere means of transportation and will ultimately become a mobile living space.”
The pill-like shape of the Mercedes-Benz F015 measures in at roughly 5.7 meters in length, while having just 1.66 meters in height, an impressive display indeed. The windshield of the Mercedes-Benz F015 expands in such a manner that it also becomes a sunroof and it is all a single pane design. The wheels are 26-inch monsters that are put out into the far corners for passenger space optimization, while the seats rotate to a 30 degree angle when the carriage-like doors open. They do so as to ease the seating of the passengers in the car.
The connectivity of the Mercedes-Benz F015 is a key feature in its design. Inside there are six hi-res touch-screen displays that are located on the doors and allow the passengers to navigate, browse the web or see outside the vehicle just by simple gestures or eye movements. Zetsche says that the Mercedes-Benz F015 can be used both as a fully automated car or it can be driven by human hands. When operated by the “auto-pilot”, the vehicle projects through LED lights positioned in the grill a crosswalk on the street to assure pedestrians that it is safe to cross.
Even though the development of fully automated vehicle is in its infancy stages a lot of companies have ventured into this new and promising field of technology. Google is at the forefront of the niche with more than 700.000 miles tested since 2009 on robo-cars. Companies like General Motors and Nissan expect automated cars to hit the streets as early as 2020, while more ambitious competitors like Tesla are looking to build a system that manages up to 90 % of driving by 2016. The competition is vicious and the competitors in this domain have sharp fangs. Who will have the first bite at this though?