AUTOS: Mercedes Future Cop Concept

AUTOS: Mercedes Future Cop Concept

After creating the Design Challenge entry for the Los Angeles Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz designers built a full-size model to unveil at next week?s event.

Tasked with illustrating the Highway Patrol Vehicle 2025, this year?s Design Challenge for the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show, the designers at the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio based their idea on what a future version of the G-Class SUV would look like.

When the rendering of a future police vehicle was finished, the designers went beyond the contest requirements and built a life-size concept to demonstrate what the off-roader of the future might look like. Mercedes-Benz will debut the Ener-G-Force concept next week at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The hydrogen-powered Ener-G-Force is loaded with law-enforcement technology. (Photo: Mercedes-Benz) Power comes from recycled water, which is converted into hydrogen and oxygen by the onboard ?hydro-tech converter.? Hydrogen is used to power the fuel cells, while batteries are contained in the Ener-G-Force?s side skirts. Four wheel-hub motors provide propulsion, and the Ener-G-Force has a range of roughly 500 miles.

For police use, it was critical that the truck be able to reach incident scenes both on road and off, and a reduced greenhouse area would offer up a margin of additional safety for occupants.

Ensuring that drivers never get stuck, a roof-mounted ?Terra-Scan? unit maps the topography ahead and automatically adjusts suspension settings and ground clearance as needed. The side skirt lights change color depending upon the state of charge, and the batteries are hot-swappable to extend the electric SUV?s range.

While the Ener-G-Force remains the stuff of science fiction, it demonstrates the reverence that Mercedes-Benz has for its iconic off-roader. While the 2025 Gelaendewagen may not look or function anything like the Ener-G-Force concept, we have no doubt that the legendary SUV will still be in production.

This story originally appeared at Motor Authority.

Source: http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/autos-mercedes-future-cop-concept/

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