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 "Anyone who focuses solely on the technology has not yet grasped how
autonomous driving will change our society," said Daimler Chief
Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche, one of this year's keynote
speakers at CES. "The car is growing beyond its role as a mere means
of transport and will ultimately become a mobile living space."
Until now, automakers such as Daimler and Volkswagen AG's <VOWG_p.DE>
Audi have largely focused on developing automated systems, including
braking and steering, that make cars safer and easier to operate.
The F 015 luxury sedan concept, with its spacious cabin and
lounge-like seating for four, explores new possibilities for
self-driving cars that can double as virtual living rooms on wheels.
And in keeping with Mercedes tradition and the concept's "luxury in
motion" theme, the post-modern passenger space is trimmed in walnut
veneer, nappa leather, polished aluminum and glass, with soft blue
LED lighting.
The F 015 can be operated autonomously or manually. When the vehicle
is in fully driverless mode, the four motorized lounge chairs can be
rotated to allow face-to-face conversations. When required for
manual operation, the driver's chair swivels back to face forward.
To facilitate connectivity with the outside world, the F 015 is
equipped with six digital display screens throughout the cabin. The
screens can be activated via gestures, eye-tracking or touch.
Mercedes wrapped all that fancy hardware and software in a
lightweight, impact-resistant structure of carbon-fiber, aluminum
and high-strength steel. The concept was also designed to
accommodate an electric motor and hydrogen fuel cell.
The F 015 represents a huge leap forward conceptually and
stylistically from the Mercedes-Benz S 500 Intelligent Drive
research vehicle that piloted itself on a 100-kilometer journey from
Mannheim to Pforzheim in August 2013.
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The 2013 journey, made in a specially modified S-Class sedan
equipped with various automated systems, traced the path driven 125
years earlier by Bertha Benz, wife of company co-founder Karl Benz,
in one of the world's first gasoline-powered automobiles.
Mercedes currently equips several of its production vehicles with a
variety of semi-automated systems, including parking assist, traffic
jam assist and steering assist.
The company's forward vision, embodied in a project titled "City of
the Future 2030+", sees self-driving cars as a springboard for
redesigning traffic-dense urban spaces with unique "safety" zones
accessible only by autonomous vehicles.
(Reporting by Paul Lienert in Las Vegas; Editing by Alan Crosby)
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