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Ener-G-Force: looking into the future

, December 26, 2012

 

The Mercedes-Benz G-Class has endured as an off-road icon for over 30 years. Is it possible that the Mercedes-Benz G-Class will still be around in 2025?
 
A design study from Mercedes-Benz demonstrates how the genes of the classic off-roader from 1979 may still assert themselves in the far future. It is based on the concept of a future police car developed for the Los Angeles Design Challenge, says a statement.
 
The Challenge looks far ahead with a quest for the “Highway Patrol Vehicle 2025”. Law enforcement will have to prepare for even more crowded roads with electronically monitored and guided traffic, a much larger population and changes in human behaviour. 
 
The new times will also call for new police vehicles. They must be able to reach any place conceivable quickly and reliably – even far away from any pavement. And they must do so in an exceptionally environmentally friendly way using alternative energy sources. Enhanced green-car characteristics and off-road capabilities will be among the fundamental virtues of a police car in 2025, it said.
 
As an environmentally friendly SUV, the Ener-G-Force, which Mercedes-Benz is presenting in Los Angeles as a design study, meets these requirements and would be fully capable of supporting police and emergency services in every corner of the world, said the statement. 
 
Gorden Wagener, director of design at Mercedes-Benz Cars, said: “The Ener-G-Force is the vision of an off-roader that, while reflecting tomorrow’s adventures, also invokes the genes of the Mercedes-Benz off-road icon, the G model. Modern and cool, it could also be a clue about a new beginning for the off-road design idiom of Mercedes-Benz”. 
 
The small glass areas make the police vehicle a safe cocoon for law 
enforcement officers who are faced with many dangers. Emergency lights 
integrated into the roof ensure attention that is impossible to ignore; the 
striking front leaves no doubt as to the commanding presence of the police, and the gigantic wheels guarantee the right of way even where no way exists.
 
Back from the future
 
The concept of the Ener-G-Force for the Los Angeles Design 
Challenge is pure, rendered science fiction. However, the notion of designing tomorrow’s off-roader fascinated the designers at the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Carlsbad, California to such an extent that they evolved the vision of a police version into a civilian version and even built a 1:1-scale model, the statement said. 
 
Like the “Highway Patrol Vehicle 2025”, the shape of the civilian Ener-G-Force is modelled after the G-Class, the off-road icon whose continuous history goes all the way back to the 1970s and that to this very day still tackles the future as a stylistically and technologically advanced SUV, it said.
 
Like the police version, the model of the civilian Ener-G-Force is unmistakably inspired by the G-Class, which has long been considered an automotive icon. 
 
However, it presents a radical reinterpretation of this classic that looks far into the future. Important genes such as proportions and design elements were adopted conceptually and completely redesigned and updated in a clean concept for beyond tomorrow. 
 
Ener-G-Force Designer Hubert Lee: “Of course we wanted to take a clear step forward, but we also wanted the G’s characteristic features”. The Ener-G-Force has a similar profile, however with a high shoulder line and scaled-down glass areas. 
 
While the clear design idiom of the G-Class has remained, all surfaces are designed to express intensity and tension. The meticulously executed details also are a clear indication that the Ener-G-Force is the product of modern times. 
 
Like the G-Class, the Ener-G-Force sports a front with an expressive radiator grille that incorporates the headlamps. LEDs in the headlamps form lamp units in the shape of a G. This gives the Ener-G-Force a strong, iconic appearance and demonstrates dominance. The front indicators and position lights are mounted on top of the wings as a significant G-Class element.
 
Bursting with energy
The Ener-G-Force stores recycled water in tanks on the roof, and transfers it to the “hydro-tech converter,” where natural and renewable resources are converted into hydrogen for operating the fuel cells. The storage units for the electricity generated in this process are housed easily accessible in the striking side skirts. The Ener-G-Force emits nothing but water, has an operating range of about 800 km  and as a result truly is a green car.
 
Four wheel-hub motors, whose output for each individual wheel is adapted precisely to the respective terrain by high-performance electronics, provide the pulling power. A “Terra-Scan” 360-degree topography scanner on the roof permanently scans the surroundings and uses the results to adjust the spring and damping rates as well as other suspension parameters for maximum traction on the respective surface, regardless of whether it is in terrain or on the road. – TradeArabia News Service
 



Tags: Mercedes-Benz | G-Class | patrol |

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