Mercedes' Autonomous Car Of The Future Is A Luxurious Living Room On Wheels

Mercedes has previewed its autonomous car of the future with this, the F 015 Luxury in Motion. As you can see, it’s a big vehicle - about the same size as a current S-class - and an intriguing one too.

Mercedes describes its concept car as a ‘mobile living space’ with swivelling lounge chairs, rear-hinged doors, six screens that are controlled via eye-tracking, gesture recognition or touch, and LED lights on the front and back that tell other road users if you’re driving the car manually, or if the F 015 has control; white lights indicate human control, while blue lights represent autonomy.

Inside the floaty cabin, the concept car features ‘open-pore walnut wood’, nappa leather, metal and lots of glass. Despite extensive use of the latter, the F 015’s body shell weighs 40 per cent less - thanks to carbonfibre-reinforced plastic, aluminium and high-strength steels - than that of a current car the same size.

Other technologies include doors which inflate to absorb crash impacts and lasers that scan the roads for obstacles or pedestrians.

Powering the F 015 is a plug-in hydrogen fuel cell with two electric motors. Combined, they produce 268bhp for a 0-62mph time of 6.7 seconds and a range of just under 700 miles.

What’s your opinion on a car like this? Do you want complete control at all times, or are you happy to kick back and relax in a swanky mobile living space when you’re surrounded by traffic or doing 70mph on the motorway?