While we typically cover Mercedes-Benz in terms of what new vehicles are coming down the pipeline, like the upcoming CLA-Class, the automaker announced a series of ideas that “shape the mobility of tomorrow”. These concepts include evolving the company’s augmented reality technology for tomorrow’s drivers, incorporating “mixed reality” experiences for designers and buyers configuring their cars, using new synthetic materials using biotechnology, developing better energy efficiency for autonomous vehicles and envisioning cities in the coming decades that incorporate all these various technologies in daily life.
The developments, Mercedes says, includes “groundbreaking technologies for better quality of life and road safety, for more climate protection and resource conservation, and for more digital experiences that are hyper-personalized and extend far beyond the vehicle.”
In 2040, the automaker continues, more than half of all private vehicles “could be fully electric”. Within the world’s megacities, though, another part of the “hyper-personalized customer experience” would be the integration of the MBUX Virtual Assistant Mercedes first debuted at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The assistant uses generative AI to learn your habits and adjust to your morning routine, as one example.
Mercedes lays out the use of augmented reality classes as a core component of the daily grind, wherein “the driver sees the navigation as virtual signposts in the outside world (shown above). If the person at the wheel would rather focus on other activities, they simply switch to autonomous driving mode. The vehicle then makes suggestions for further tasks and experiences according to known individual preferences. These include, for example, adopting a relaxed seating position or continuing tasks started at home but not yet completed. During autonomous driving, the controls are also within easy reach of a relaxed seating position.”
AR goggles — like Apple’s Vision Pro setup — also play a role in Mercedes-Benz’s “mixed reality” experience. The company says it is working to develop another application where designers can all work on the same (virtual) vehicle in real-time, while customers can use the glasses to configure their vehicle however they’d like.
Other technologies Mercedes-Benz covers is neuromorphic computing as it relates to improving the responsiveness and efficiency of safety systems. In collaboration with the Canadian University of Waterloo, the company says it is breaking new ground in the creating new computer architectures to make tomorrow’s safety systems better. “By mimicking the workings of the human brain,” Mercedes says in its announcement, “neuromorphic computing could make AI computations significantly more energy efficient and faster.” The automaker says these improvements could reduce the energy required for data processing to handle tasks like traffic sign recognition, recognizing lane markings and pedestrians or vehicles on the road could by 90%.
Mercedes also detailed the use of synthetic materials in future vehicles, including biodegradable silk made from genetically modified bacteria and leather alternatives made from recycled plastic.
As far as mechanical developments, Mercedes-Benz showed some details on a new “in-drive” brake, integrating the braking system into the electric drive motor, rather than inside each wheel. The new, “more sustainable” design tackles some of the down sides of existing mechanical braking systems, including particulate emissions from brake dust and corrosion of the braking system over time.
The automaker is also researching a new type of solar module that it’s calling a “solar paint” — 5-micrometer layer of paste that can be applied directly to the bodywork. The “paint” surface matches the efficiency of a typical solar panel, or about 20%, but can be applied virtually anywhere, and can generate up enough energy for up to 7,456 miles per year if it covers the surface area equivalent to a midsize SUV (118.4 square feet). The paste also weighs 50 grams per square meter, so this paint would not contribute to the overall weight of a vehicle — especially compared to the battery pack — and can help replenish energy even when the vehicle is switched off, meaning fewer charging stops.
Finally, Mercedes mentions a “paradigm shift” in the world of power electronics within electric vehicles. This includes a new type of programmable converter system that could regulate individual battery cells, as well as the output voltage on the fly. So, rather than using a conventional and bulkier power inverter, the automaker aims to integrate these “micro-converters” at the battery cell level. The output voltage, say 800 volts, is then no longer dependent on how many cells are connected up in series. Instead, Mercedes says these converters can work to provide a constant high-voltage output with any number of cell pairs regardless of their state of charge or state of health.
All this technology has yet to actually make it into a consumer application, of course. The biotechnology going into more eco-conscious interior materials will make its way to the new CLA, while the other developments may make their way into cars in the coming years.
