Not one to be outdone by Motorola’s obsession with modularity, Mercedes-Benz showcased their vision for modularity in automobiles. The Urbanetic shows the company’s explorations in modular vehicles, where the car’s undercarriage is a separate entity that allows various vehicular bodies to plug on top of it, allowing it to transform from a self-driving minivan to a self-driving truck.
Its hyper-organic detailing aside (something I’m not really a fan of), the vehicle, or ‘mobility concept’ as its creators call it, comes with a skateboard-esque powertrain base that allows you to simply mount and swap bodies on top, giving you mobility for different scenarios when needed. While the very concept of having a one-powertrain-drives-all system sounds innovative and could definitely present a new era for mobility and manufacturing, it’s probably the execution that I personally have problems with. For instance, Mercedes-Benz could do so much more than making their minivan look like a bicycle helmet on wheels, and the truck look like a metallic loaf of bread. Other than that, a pretty innovative take on the future of transport, be it human or goods!
Designer: Mercedes-Benz
