Mercedes’ Smart Vision EQ is a tiny urban autonomous concept
The automaker says its a car for sharing, not owning.
During a series of song-and-dance numbers, Mercedes-Benz introduced its Smart Vision EQ concept vehicle. The pure electric, completely autonomous car is built for personalization without actual ownership. Based on the Smart Fortwo, the car is the company's vision of mobility and EVs.
The tiny autonomous EV will have inductive charging and lack a steering wheel or pedals. But what it's missing in controls, it makes up for in utility. The car will be shared not only with other individuals via ride hailing; when it's not being used to shuttle people around, it can double as a rolling informational display. According to Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, when idle, the Vision EQ can be used to display sports scores, the weather or the time in a city center.
Zetsche noted that the Vision EQ, like the company's first Hypercar, the Mercedes-AMG Project One, is built with two types of customers in mind: the urban dweller who needs to get around but doesn't want the hassle of car ownership and the hardcore enthusiast with a huge pile of cash who's looking to go fast and turn heads while still being on the bleeding edge of automotive technology.
