The Vision AVTR (Advanced Vehicle Transformation) is a concept vehicle inspired by the American Sci-fi movie Avatar. The Mercedes team developed the car in conjunction with the Avatar team. This is not the first vehicle inspired by a movie. Back in November 2019, Elon Musk unveiled a Tesla Cybertruck, partly inspired by a 1977 James Bond’s movie 'The Spy Who Loved Me.' Mercedes AVTR is not available for purchase right now as it represents the Mercedes vision of future automobiles in the distant future. Alexander Mankowsky, the futurologist at Mercedez Benz, hinted that the car may never be built as a production car and is only a teaser of what to expect in the future.
This amazing concept car was first showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show, which was held between 7th and 10th January 2020. Mercedes-Benz AVTR is an emission-free electric car that has mind-blowing features. The rear end has 33 discrete scales called 'bionic flaps' that can be used to communicate with other people that aren't in the vehicle. The flaps also work to support handling of the car, and the color illumination change when taking a bend or braking. In addition, the bionic flaps can work as solar plates and power the vehicle. It has spherical wheels that allow it to drive forward, sideways, or diagonal with torque vectoring.
An amazing feature of this car is that it is completely autonomous and lacks a steering wheel. The car is built to connect with human beings just like in the movie Avatar by adapting the forms of natural aesthetics and overcoming the language barrier between humans and machines. Daimler Group chairman suggested the objective of the car is to make man and machine literally merge. The Vision AVTR can detect and adapt automatically when passengers are moving in the car or when a family is on board. Hence, children referred to as ‘inmates’ won’t get bored thanks to the ‘Child-friendly augmented reality experience.’ Children can enjoy age-appropriate educational games installed in the vehicle.
Developing this future-oriented automobile took two years with the help of Avatar's film director James Cameron. According to the manufacturers, the vehicle is powered by organic battery cells, not requiring rare earth minerals. The battery is recyclable and has a vehicle to grid technology. Also, the interior of the car has no unobtainium (a fictional, highly valuable mineral from the movie Avatar). In short, the interior is not made up of rare minerals but vegan leather and recycled plastics. The floor is made of fast-growing Karuun wood, grown and harvested in Indonesia. As a result, the interior receives much-needed warmth and a sense of naturalness, as claimed by the automaker. This is to achieve Mercedes's long term goal of reducing carbon emission; hence it is made of 100% recyclable elements.
The interior design is incredible, just like the exterior design. The doors open upward while the roof has partially transparent panels that keep changing their colors. By adapting to the natural aesthetics and use of augmented reality experience, the car seats can transmit vibrations to achieve some sort of excitement for the occupants. Moreover, to keep the occupants more relaxed, it has a 3D 360-degree sound system that can play/mimic the sound heard outside the car, such as bird songs. This, according to the manufacturer, is to strengthen the bond between human beings and nature. The seats are designed to be curvy to display the visual connection between the occupants and the outside environment.
The driverless car replaces the steering wheel with a biometric control that allows for activation of the vehicle using a handprint. This biometric control serves to connect the driver and the car. Additionally, it can sense the heartbeat and breathing pace of the driver. Also, it connects seamlessly with the other passengers in the vehicle. This is exhibited when someone raises their hand in the car a menu like image will be projected on their palms. Also, the dashboard has 3D graphics of what is ahead and displays other existing natural wonders of the earth.
The car is extremely powerful, and its engine runs on 350 kilowatts and up to 469 horsepower. The 110-kilowatt hour battery gives the vehicle a range of over 435 miles (700 km). Without a doubt, Mercedez-Benz Vision AVTR is a good representation of tomorrow’s technology and futuristic cars.