My love for cars was engine first, design second. But with EV, it is the opposite. Partly because automakers hardly detail the electric engines and even if they do, I will never understand as I have slept through my electrical module. Anyways, design is exactly what the newly revealed design study, the Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven Concept, is all about.
Though, for a change, point star marque did reveal that the Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven Concept is powered by an “extremely powerful and highly efficient” axial-flux motor developed by its fully own subsidiary, electric motor specialist YASA. And oh, yes, it is super dense. It is about a third of the size of a conventional electric motor. However, numbers were not available. While the battery is unknown, the official words are it is with “high-performance liquid-cooled cylindrical cells.”
Let us be reminded that this is wholly a show car and technical specs don’t matter. It is all about aesthetics which in this case is a homage to the brand’s legendary C 111 experimental vehicle. The Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven Concept is the 21st-century interpretation of the C111.
The Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven Concept shares the similar wedge shape silhouette of its forebear, albeit it is clearly more modernized. Many of the C 111’s design cues were carried over but not without going through the 21st-century modernizing mill first.
The result is a sleek sporty interpretation of Mercedes-Benz’s One-Bow design, featuring an oval-shaped front end with the three hash-mark vents at the corners. Then, there are the round headlights, now presented in pixelated form. Likewise, the dual circular taillights too, are now interpreted as pixelated graphics. Another clear lineage would be the twin hood vents painted in black, and of course, the gullwing doors.
There are a few other touches that aren’t quite related. Like the pop-up rear-facing cameras in place of side mirrors, and the pop-up rear wing that melts into the car, smooth-flowing rear when not activated.
The design influence of the marque’s legend is strictly limited to the exterior, though. On the inside, it is an all-out The Jetsons sprinkled with some retro vibe. The interior is as minimalistic as it is space age. Featuring a Formula 1-style seating arrangement where the occupants’ feet are higher than their bums. We heard the car is integrated with augmented reality as part of the control.
Yeah. I know. It is pretty wild which is also a hint that it probably won’t see the light of production. But hey, we are all allow to dream, don’t we? Meanwhile, you may learn more about the Mercedes-Benz Vision One-Eleven Concept HERE.
Images: Mercedes-Benz.
