THE 2010: Mercedes-Benz Biome Concept

Perhaps one of the most attractive areas on display to the public at the Los Angeles Auto Show is precisely the area where manufacturers compete for the best concept design under a theme that changes every year. For example, this year the rules are that all designs must have four seats and weigh less than 454 kg.

On the other hand, apparently it was not necessary to build a full-scale prototype, but Daimler evidently did not have its engineers busy enough, so they decided to present no less than three concepts, each developed at a different R&D centre, so that people could see what they are capable of.

One of the units that will surely have impressed you most, its photo is at the top of this post, is the one created by the Carlsbad team in California under the name Biome Concept. Among its peculiarities, perhaps the most worth mentioning is that it is the only one built at 1:1 scale. According to its developers, this model, and here’s the technique, would grow from a genetically modified seed to develop the equipment desired by the customer.

On the other hand, another seed would be responsible for shaping the body of the vehicle, being capable of holding the sun’s energy in an imaginary liquid that would replace fuel. As you can see, it’s all very “green”, so much so that at the end of its useful life it would simply have to be put through the shredder to obtain natural fertiliser. Quite something.

In another field we have the Smart 454 by Weight Watch Technologies, a vehicle that you can see in the middle of the post, designed in Germany, made with recyclable plastic and fabric panels that the user can configure on a carbon fibre structure, a material that would also be used for the tyres. For propulsion it would use two 15 kW electric motors, one for each wheel, powered by lithium-ion batteries.

Finally, in the image gallery you will be able to see the Maybach eRikscha, a four-seat, two-wheeled vehicle that would grow inside a cocoon. The curious thing is that its movement would be electric, but if its users wish, they could move it by pedalling the pedals located inside.

Without further ado, I leave you with the photo gallery, since with what has been described I don’t think my opinion is needed.

Via | autoblog