A steering wheel? None. Even pedals or gear stick have simply disappeared in this car. As in the Playstation or in Airbus aircraft, everything is controlled by a joystick so that the driver can move freely around his workplace. Since he often has to get in and out, valuable and expensive time is saved. At least that's how it turns out Mercedes the transporter of the future, which even has its own delivery drones on board. The concept model Vision Van is to become one of the stars at the IAA Commercial Vehicles Show in Hanover in the middle of the month. In advance it was already to be marveled at in Stuttgart.
“Intelligent, clean and always online,” is how Volker Mornhinweg, who is responsible for the vans at Daimler, summarizes the properties of the mental model. But he freely admits that this is about the Mercedes van of the day after tomorrow. “The Vision Van is a logistics center on wheels,” he explains. Because delivery traffic is becoming increasingly important in metropolitan areas, manufacturers of smaller commercial vehicles also have to adapt. “We are becoming a full-service provider,” announces Mornhinweg, “in addition to the vehicle, we also provide a wealth of services, transport solutions and options for online communication.”
The Vision Van summarizes many of these ideas. Of course, it has a purely electric drive, since in future many inner cities will only be allowed to drive on emissions-free vehicles. It delivers 75 kW / 102 hp and spoils you with a pulling power of up to 270 Newton meters. It could be a good 120 km / h. However, since it is only intended for use in urban areas, the top was limited to 80 km / h. The idea bearer is charged either by induction (such as a kettle) or by a socket. Depending on the version, the range per battery charge is between 80 and 270 kilometers. Externally, it resembles the F015 car study, from which it inherited the front section in addition to the smooth outer skin. The difference: The futuristic van is not intended for autonomous driving, which would not really make sense in short-haul traffic due to the city bustle.
The cab has a flat floor and has been moved far forward. In order to offer the driver, for example, a courier service as much freedom of movement as possible, everything that is often confined today has been dispensed with. No steering wheel, no pedals, no gear stick. The small joystick to the left of the driver does everything. If Airbus once invented the fly-by-wire with the A320 (flying by electronic commands instead of mechanics), Mercedes wants to be a pioneer in “drive-by-wire”. To start driving, the transporter driver from tomorrow must pull the joystick back. Then he steers the van along the route previously programmed in the navigation system, which the computer used to calculate based on the customer addresses. The operation of the side and rear loading doors is also remotely controlled. At the same time, traffic signals are warned that there is an obstacle on the roadside. Or that one of the drones is about to take off.
The ground-air alliance is one of the vision van's top ideas. Because the ordered goods can also be transported from the air to the recipient. Two drones, which are available on the roof of the car, take on freight tasks up to a distance of 10 kilometers. The flight control center is on board the transporter. This means that several customers can be served at one stop. Due to the close networking via Internet and cloud services, delivery dates can also be coordinated with the recipient beforehand. The annoying collection in a packing station because you were not at home is significantly reduced.
“We know from our logistics customers that the last mile is the most expensive part of the delivery process. Our solutions can significantly reduce these costs, ”explains Volker Mornhinweg. This also means that the future van is loaded much more effectively. This can be done by a robot that sorts the goods by route before the start and lays them in a kind of rack. This is then automatically transported to the car with a perfect fit. The loading time is reduced from the current 80 to five minutes. The available cargo space can also be used better.
Everything, of course, is still a dream of the future. But Daimler has put 200 employees on the project who should not keep their ideas behind for the coming vans. “A new era is just beginning for us. Similar to a start-up company, we want to go completely new ways, shorten development times or also work with partners on customer-friendly solutions, ”says Mornhinweg. (Peter Maahn / SP-X)