MB Debuts Driver-Less F015 Luxury in Motion
Chauffers are so 2014. If you want to roll like a real boss, you arrive in a driver-less Benz, or you don’t arrive at all.
Of course that’s what a lot of people fear when they think of automated cars: That they won’t arrive at all. But thanks to Mercedes Benz’s game changer at CES 2015, robo-phobics can set their minds at ease.
Monday night, the Mercedes Benz F015 Luxury in Motion rolled up to the annual premier tech convention in Las Vegas. And it did so sans driver.
As the name suggests, the F015 is resplendent with luxury, partially thanks to the “carriage concept,” which situates the seats facing one another, like in horse-drawn carriages of yesteryear. But don’t worry: At the end of the day, the F015 is still a Mercedes, so there is a steering wheel you can cozy up to. Just in case you need to move your human spirit.
Pushing the big wheels to the very edges of the car is what allows for such conference-room-like amenities. And we’re not just talking any conference room; Gordon Gecko would be comfortable inside.
Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Head of Mercedes-Benz, has more in mind for the F015 than just work though. While introducing the concept at the show, shown in NewGadgets.de‘s video below, the good doctor envisioned a “third place, in addition to home and office. A place where we’ll actively want to, and enjoy, hanging out.”
Not only is the F015 a nice place to hang, it’s also got safety features that surpass pretty much every human-driven car on the road. The LED lit sensors on the front and back communicate with its surroundings. For example, just to let you know it’s there, the F015 creates a digital crosswalk and tells you when it’s safe to cross.
The sensors, cameras, and radar systems that make safe driving possible don’t come cheap though. Nor does the software that runs it all. Which is why MB doesn’t expect to release a sell-able version until 2030. Unfortunately, by then, flying cars will most likely have already made the F015 obsolete.
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via [Venture Beat]