The Mercedes-Benz Vision Iconic is an all-electric coupe slathered with solar panels that doesn’t look like it may ever reach the mass market.
On the outside, the futuristic two-door EV has an atypically long “hood” (considering that there’s no engine underneath), a fairly short front overhang and a well-rounded rear. The outlines and the geometry hearken back to the company’s vintage car designs from the 1930s. In turn, a large faux grille at the front serves as a reminder about some of the automaker’s most iconic cars. Commenting on the design, Mercedes Design Director Gordon Wagener called it “a sculpture in motion.”
Nothing has been revealed about the powertrain, but you can get the memo if you look closer at the body. It’s covered from top to bottom in solar panels, letting the EV produce what Mercedes calls “free energy” even when parked. In the best-case scenario, a car like this could supply itself with enough electricity for 12,000 km (7,456 miles) of free range per year, the company reckons.
Rear-wheel steering enables smaller and more precise turns, but the steering wheel isn’t linked to the wheels in any way – the car is strictly steer-by-wire. SAE Level 2 self-driving components on board enable it to drive and park itself in certain situations, and Mercedes is hopeful that Level 4 tech isn’t too far away. According to the company, finding a way to analyze the environment data using AI may help such cars drive themselves in a completely autonomous fashion on highways.
The interior looks lavish with its trim of natural leather, wood and velvet interspersed with mother-of-pearl accents. The dashboard in the traditional sense is gone, replaced with a glass-and-metal sculpture dubbed the Zeppelin (some early Maybach cars from the ‘30s wore that name). The company claims it combines digital and analog features serving simultaneously as a dashboard and an infotainment display.
