At the CES Show in Las Vegas, Mercedes-Benz revealed their F 015 Luxury in Motion research vehicle which explores the brands vision of our future.
The futuristic vision of a self-driving luxury sedan illustrates how Mercedes-Benz sees us evolving toward our relationship to cars going forward.
The interior is a lounge where front seats can be turned around to allow a casual visit among passengers while the car takes care of all the driving, worry of safety, traffic and motivation. Meanwhile you and your friends can listen to music, surf the net or post selfies on Facebook.
Interactive touch screens line every surface with motion activated features and voice commands to make it the ultimate iPad on wheels.
But rest easy, because the driver and front passenger can if needed turn their eyes and attention toward the road for manual driving. What a bother yes, but there is a presumably drive-by-wire steering wheel for such temporary inconveniences.
Our future of mobility includes automated driving whether we like it or not say the automakers. As Mercedes-Benz contends, “the greater the advance of urbanization, the greater is the desire of the individual to be able to retreat to a private sphere. Autonomous driving will become a given.” Neat.
I don’t know about you but I don’t find this appealing at all. I’m a driver, not a rider. If I’m gonna spend 100 large or more for a car, it better be more than my own personal compartment on a commuter train.