While self-driving cars and electrified powertrains take the front seat in the automotive landscape, several automakers are scrambling for a piece of the pie. However, an iteration that will most likely come out this year from Mercedes-Benz's lineup is set to redefine future-proofing a car.
Australian website Motoring, on Sunday, reported that the German company's global research and development head Ola Kallenius hinted an early arrival of the forthcoming concept car. Speaking at this year's Consumers Electronic Show, Kallenius told Motoring that the concept will pair advanced self-driving systems and collision protection to create the ultimate safety vehicle.
Kallenius believes that if adaptable artificial intelligence that constantly learns controls of the car, and cloud computing is able to see everything at once, there's not a single reason why a car should crash- or worse, a human die in a wreck.
Back in 2009, Mercedes-Benz had showcased the ESF concept which was a loaded S-Class was featuring all the safety-tech that the company could offer back then. Ten years later, the company seems to be giving the idea another shot. A handful of technologies that will be seen on the concept are quite close to series production, Kallenius confirmed. Adding to this, he also clarified that the tech would not be an entirely far-out future vision, but something that would effectively reduce road accidents in the near future.
When asked about the time he believes cars would take over driving for humans, Kallenius didn't venture a guess. However, he believes that cities will witness the first of major changes in mobility before it spreads to less-congested areas.
Mercedes-Benz is, however, not the first company to envision such a concept. A year before it showcased the ESF, Volvo, in 2008, had revealed its Vision 2020 which aimed at nullifying Volvo-related deaths by 2020. Three aspects of Volvo's plans aimed at making the cars safe in case of a crash, load them with features to avoid a crash and finally introduce autonomous driving for safer driving. While there has been no noise from under Volvo's sheds regarding the same, Mercedes-Benz might be giving some serious thought towards it.