- Mercedes-Benz has unveiled a new concept the indicates its styling direction for future EVs.
- The Vision Iconic takes inspiration from classic Benz's such as the SSK, 500K and 300SL.
- It also previews future tech, including an innovative 'solar paint' that can charge the battery.
Mercedes-Benz has dropped a bold and very firm indication of exactly where its styling is heading for its future EVs with the reveal of a stunning new concept car - the Vision Iconic.
Following on from the stylistic dead-end of the 'amorphous blob' design language used on the EQ cars (it started good on the EQS, ended badly on the EQE), Mercedes has pivoted to a far more elegant and pleasingly retro-tinged approach with the Vision Iconic that takes obvious inspiration from the likes of the 1928 SSK roadster, gloriously swoopy 500K from 1934 and, of course, the legendary 1954 300SL (I mean, look at those rear haunches!).
The result is something that looks halfway between an extravagant and elegant 1930's coach-built car and something Batman would drive.
The company says the massive gleaming take on its new 'iconic grille' enables it to "stand out from a sea of sameness", which is no doubt a direct reaction to the criticism the blobby EQ family that all looked the same.
Inspired by the large upright grilles on the likes of the W108, W111 and 600 Pullman, the new grille debuted on the production GLC EV and gets an even more extravagant treatment here, with a smoked-glass lattice infused with hundreds of tiny animated lights, as well as integrated contour lighting that the company says turns what has traditionally been a functional vent for cooling a combustion engine into a digital, animated "status front".
Even the classic three-pointed star bonnet emblem returns to the bonnet on the Vision Iconic, this time illuminated atop a design that Mercedes-Benz calls "bold, upright and proud". It isn't definitely isn't subtle, but it certainly works.
While its styling is clearly very retro-inspired, the tech packed into the Vision Iconic is most definitely not, with even the paint getting a high-tech twist.
A key innovation featured on the Vision Iconic is its advanced solar technology; namely "wafer-thin" solar modules with a high efficiency of 20 percent that can be applied to the bodywork like a paste (Mercedes-Benz calls it "solar paint"), transforming the vehicle's surface into an energy-generating source.
The company says the potential impact is significant, claiming that applying this photovoltaic-active surface could add up to 12,000 kilometres of range per year under "ideal conditions", while also being sustainable, as the coating contains no rare earth metals or silicon and is easily recyclable.
Mercedes-Benz says the Vision Iconic serves as "a mobile showcase for a suite of pioneering technologies" it is actively researching for integration into its future production EVs and, along with the solar paint, also features "neuromorphic computing" that is designed to mimic the functioning of the human brain.
This allows for AI calculations that are significantly faster and more energy-efficient, making it 10 times more efficient than current systems. The primary benefit is a potential 90 percent reduction in the energy consumed for processing automated driving data, which would also help safety systems react more quickly to road conditions.
Mercedes-Benz stresses that the Vision Iconic is very much just a concept and isn't destined for production, and while its bold look could certainly be taken as something of an overcorrection in response to the almost universal dislike for the blobby direction the current EQ range went, it still works.
If Mercedes-Benz leans into the Vision Iconic's elegant and distinctive - but definitely not subtle - styling it could well indicate a very interesting future for luxury EVs in general, as Jaguar forges ahead with its controversial reinvention and even Bentley gets into the retro/future styling game.
