Mercedes stuns with their exclusive 'cocoon on wheels'

• Mercedes F 015 Concept

The catchword with the gamut of auto manufacturers at CES 2015 is most certainly ‘autonomous’. The dream of aself-driving car has been something that has been flirted with ranging from common folklore to lofty sci-fi depictions of hands-free, high-speed, ultra-safe personal transport. From what’s being unveiled at at at CES and the traction it is seeing from the biggest auto brands, it appears we’re on the cusp of tangible, driveable  results in the space of truly autonomous vehicles.

In his keynote earlier today at the Chelsea theater in the Cosmopolitan hotel, Las Vegas, Mercedes’ top gun, Dr Dieter Zetsche, made some stunning announcements during which he demoed a personal transportation system (it was way more than a car, really) that embodied their vision of the future of transport: a reality where people to perceive cars as a place in which they revel in their own private cocoon of luxury and tranquility. And this was showcased amply in their concept car, the F 015.

Its lines are all fluid, with a design that makes for the most room within the cabin: its large 26-inch wheels are pushed almost to the corners of the car and there doors are hinged outward for easy access to the interiors. The front grille is studded with an array of LED lights, and a column of these lights serve as the headlights. When blue, it is apparently inautonomous driving mode. Also, the car is able to project a zebra crossing on the road in front of it when it is stationary to let pedestrians know that it is safe to cross.

There are four seats in the capacious interior that can be swiveled around--clearly something you can do, now that you don’t need to specifically keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel.

There are large touch panels on the doors of the car on the inside, letting passengers select navigation settings, browse the Internet or call up external views from the car.

Social and legal concerns apart, if this represents the state of things to come in the future of road transport, it can barely come soon enough. Only thing is, are these cars going to be upon us sooner than we can fix the roads they’re going to be driven on? Let’s put a pin in that thought and, for the moment, soak in a delicious vision of what autonomous driving can mean.