Automotive Innovation
For many years, the mantle of innovation in the automotive industry has seemingly been taken by new EV manufacturers, like Tesla and BYD.
This is because not only did they change the way the cars are powered, but also because redesigning cars from scratch and first principles allowed for a radical change of perspective of what was possible or not.
However, it would be a mistake to disregard all the “legacy” manufacturers. Recently, Mercedes (MBGAF) has made a big announcement with a wide array of innovations that could completely change how cars are made, illustrating that the experience and R&D firepower of older brands should not be too easily dismissed.
Visions of Mobility In 2040
In November 2024, Mercedes flew in a selected panel of journalists to Germany to present its vision of the future of automobiles and mobility.
It started with a vision for 2040+ in 3 global cities: London, Los Angeles, and Shenzhen.
These visions of the future are something that Mercedes sees itself as instrumental in bringing to life, thanks to the innovations presented in the same event.
London
Source: Inside EVs
Here, the focus seems to be on reducing urban congestion, matching the current trajectory of London’s urban policies:
- Shared space between human-driven and autonomous vehicles, which are signaled.
- Parking only in (expensive) multi-story garages.
- Small deliveries are done by small robots, and larger autonomous delivery vans are only authorized in specifically dedicated zones.
- Lots of green space with shade that generates power through solar panels.
Los Angeles
Source: Inside EVs
As this urban landscape is a lot less dense, the car-focused American style of urbanism and culture persists, but with an overlay of green technology and advanced tech:
- Reserved bike lanes stand alongside car lanes populated by a mix of EVs, autonomous vehicles, and “classic cars”.
- Public garages and roadside parking spots are still present, contrary to London.
- Drones and robots are omnipresent, providing a dense network of personalized delivery as well as mitigating climate change-related risks like fires.
- EVs are recharged through a mix of inductive (contactless) charging stations and solar coating utilizing the very sunny weather.
Shenzhen
Source: Inside EVs
Today, the city is essentially China’s San Francisco and Silicon Valley, and this future vision reflects it. This is a much more vertical, ultra-dense, and ultra-modern urban landscape, built with mobility over three dimensions in mind:
- Parking is only authorized in multi-story garages.
- VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) taxis transport people throughout the city, likely with autonomous flying programs.
- Ground transportation is also multi-leveled, with pedestrians and cyclists having their own suspended paths above the traffic.
- Robots are everywhere and part of everyone’s lives, performing many services from cooking to delivery.
- Parks and green areas reduce the heat and provide communal living space.
- High-speed trains are also instrumental in bringing people in and out of Shenzhen toward the neighboring cities, especially the rest of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, the economic and technological core of modernized China.
Source: Research Gate
Mercedes-Benz CLA EV Prototype
Besides technologies, one car prototype Mercedes presented was the CLA, an electric sedan prototype with extraordinary battery capacity.
This model demonstrated an ability to drive as much as 2,309 miles (3715 km) in 24 hours, including charging stops. Of course, it is a remarkable demonstration that in the long run, range anxiety will not be a serious concern for EVs.
The performance was the result of combining 2 factors:
- High yield, with an energy efficiency of 5.2 miles/kilowatt-hour, which could make it the world’s most efficient EV, even better than the Lucid Air.
- An 800-volt traction battery and 320-kilowatt maximum charging rate, with each charging stop taking around 10 minutes to get the car’s state of charge from 10% to 50%, adding 186 miles (299 km) in range each time.
Self-Charging Solar Cars
Of course, efficient reloading at charging stations is a must for EVs on long-distance trips. Still, in the end, most of our car usage is smaller daily trips for regular commutes and traveling in our immediate neighborhood.
So it would be great if our cars could simply recharge by themselves enough to perform such trips. And even better if it’s for free.
This is the promise of Mercedes’ solar paint. It is not just the integration of solar photovoltaic cells into the body of the car, as was previously considered like for the Mercedes EQXX and its large solar roof.
Source: Mercedes-Benz
Instead, this paint is expected to generate electricity directly, making the whole surface of the car into a solar generator.
Source: Motor Trend
What is especially impressive is that this solar paint is apparently reaching efficiency as high as 20%, not much lower than much heavier solar panels, despite weighing only 50g/m2, a key consideration for putting in on a car.
How it works is obviously a trade secret for now, but it seems an ultra-transparent nanoparticle paint coating is a central element and has already been tested.
Covering the entire body surface of a midsize SUV, which is about 11 square meters (118 square feet), it could potentially add 7,450 miles (12,000 km) of range annually.
That works out to about 20 miles per day (32.8 km), which would be enough to cover 62% of a typical Stuttgarter daily commute.
Inside EVs
This performance could be even higher in sunnier climates, like California or Spain, essentially removing the need for charging stations for most users.
Charging stations being full, too slow, or too rare are major concerns about EVs and driving toward a major comeback of hybrid cars. So this technology could be a game changer, especially in regions with a Mediterranean or tropical climate, where strong sun radiation could make charging facilities almost irrelevant.
Augmented Reality Driving
Recently, mostly driven by Tesla and Chinese EV re-designs, the trend has been to add a large central screen in cars’ dashboards for handling car control.
Instead, Mercedes envisions using augmented reality glasses to allow a virtual screen that hovers just above the dashboard.
Source: Inside EVs
The central idea is that in the near future, virtual reality might become a lot more common, and automakers should already look at how to integrate it seamlessly into the driving experience, similar to smartphone pairing and integration.
Another way to leverage AR/VR tech for automakers would be to allow prospective buyers to customize their future cars. Using a full VR headset, they could directly visualize how different options would look in the final product, without the car dealership having to have them physically available on location.
Source: Inside EVs
NeuroMorphic Computers
Something the auto industry is starting to realize is that autonomous driving will likely be very computation-heavy. This means that not only will it require powerful enough hardware, but the navigation computer energy consumption will actually be non-negligible. Such power usage will likely impact EV ranges and the overall performance of robotaxis.
One way to reduce it is to switch from traditional AI chips to neuromorphic computing. Neuromorphic computing is a method where computer systems take inspiration from the brains of living systems with neurons.
Source: Tech Target
This is the path followed by Mercedes, which went as far as shaping its circuit boards to look like neurons in this demonstration to get the point through.
Source: Inside EVs
The research on neuromorphic computing was done in partnership with the Canadian University of Waterloo.
Bio-Engineered Synthetic Leather
While eco-conscious or vegan buyers often criticize animal products, luxury car interiors are nevertheless associated with the feel of leather seats. Faux-leather alternatives exist already, but always feel a little “cheap”, the opposite of what a premium brand like Mercedes is looking for.
So its researchers created a version that mimics leather down to the microscopic level, making its structure and texture very believable. It is made from material extracted from old tires, protein powder, among other things.
Source: Inside EVs
Because it is so similar to leather, it is dyed in the exact same way, which adds the distinct leather-like smell that is looked after by new car buyers.
Lastly, this material is apparently even tougher than real leather, being very resistant to exposure to the sun as well as the action of sweat and chemicals like hand sanitizers, sunscreen, or body lotion.
Source: Inside EVs
Integrated Brakes
Traditionally, cars’ brakes simply rely on increased friction on the wheels to slow down. This not only requires regular and expensive maintenance, but it also emits a lot of brake dust, which turns out into a significant contributor to air pollution by car traffic.
EVs have somewhat changed that by allowing some of the breaking to be done through the return of the kinetic energy into the battery pack, essentially moving the electric motors in reverse. But still, strong braking will require traditional brakes in supplement.
So Mercedes is taking it one step further.
In-Drive Brakes
The company’s engineers have created “in-drive brakes,” which are the housing of an electric vehicle’s drive unit.
Source: Inside EVs
The disk is water-cooled, and it doesn’t spin, and the brake pad is circular, and it spins with the motor. With this system, scrubbing speed is achieved by pushing the circular brake pad onto the stationary disk.
What makes this innovation very impressive is that it would mean the car’s brake system would never require any maintenance in the entire life of the car.
It would keep all the brake dust contained, without needing to be emptied either. This adds to a few other side benefits as well:
- Water cooling would mean no risk of brakes ever overheating.
- Completely covered, aerodynamic wheels that will help lower vehicles’ drag coefficient.
- Braking noises would be reduced.
Micro-Converters
The way EVs convert back speed into electricity is through a converter. Most of them do it with a converter per motor.
Instead, Mercedes is looking at hooking up micro-converters to the cells in an EV’s battery in parallel rather than in series.
This could be especially useful in combination with mixed NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) and LFP (lithium-ferrum-phosphate) battery cells, with some chemistry more apt at taking in more power at once.
As the batteries’ charging speed is often the chokepoint in how much power can be regenerated when braking too hard, this could boost both the car’s efficiency and further reduce the strain on the brake pad.
Another Legacy Innovator
Mercedes is not the only automaker moving fast to catch up with the EV revolution. The largest automaker in the world, Toyota, is also looking at embracing hybrids and EVs, after many years of dragging its feet.
Toyota Motor Corporation (TM +0.12%)
This is something we covered in further detail previously in “Toyota (TM) Spotlight: Playing it Safe with a Well-Rounded Approach”. Here are a few examples to put in perspective Mercedes’ innovations:
- An ongoing focus on hybrids, exemplified by a new Guinness world record for the highest MPG (miles per gallon) for a coast-to-coast drive in September 2024 achieved with a Prius.
- An aggressive roadmap toward new batteries for Evs:
- “Performance” lithium-ion batteries with a range target of 800km (500 miles) and charging time of 20 minutes or less, expected for 2026.
- “High-performance” lithium-ion batteries with a range target of 1,000km (620 miles) and charging time of 20 minutes or less, expected for 2028.
- “Breakthrough” in solid-state battery with a range target of 1,000km (620 miles) and full charging time of 10 minutes or less, expected for 2028.
- Possibly hydrogen combustion engine (not based on fuel cells), in case hydrogen production gets cheap enough to compete with EVs and creates a new hydrogen economy.
- Maybe more an interesting anecdote, Toyota is also involved in the development of the Lunar Cruiser as part of the Artemis Program, in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Source: Toyota