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Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force concept (November 30, 2012) |
The mandate of this year’s annual L.A. Auto Show Design Challenge is to envisage a 2025 highway patrol car, equipped to operate in dense, electronically monitored and controlled traffic.
The entry from Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America is the Ener-G-Force SUV, which was designed at the company’s Advanced Design Studio in Carlsbad. Inspired by Mercedes’ current G-Class 4x4s, the Ener-G-Force is a very conceptual concept (MBZ describes it as a “design study”), yet the simultaneously sensual and rugged-looking scale model offers insight into how designers view the future of the automobile. The Ener-G-Force team prioritized environmental friendliness, positioning this future ute as a zero-emissions fuel-cell electric vehicle (but remaining open to the possibility of its being developed as a plug-in electric or hybrid). And as tomorrow’s law enforcement officers will need to be able to go anywhere, anytime, the Ener-G-Force also features rally lights, a roof rack and bumpers melded into its body.
