Research vehicle F700:
Interview with Dr. Thomas Weber

Dr. Thomas Weber, Daimler AG Board of Management member responsible for Group Research & Development Mercedes-Benz Cars
 

Dr. Weber, the F 700 is a research vehicle that in its current form and level of sophistication will never go into mass production. It’s wonderful to look at, but unfortunately far removed from a production car. The situation is different with the drive system in the F700 — so when can we expect to see the first DIESOTTO solutions in Mercedes-Benz vehicles?

Each of our Mercedes-Benz research vehicles enables us to present innovative ground-breaking technologies at an early stage of their development, whereby the cars themselves can be driven and assessed. The F 700 is also a fully functional vehicle that boasts many forward-looking features. One of these is DIESOTTO engine technology, which consists of several modules. Some components here — like direct fuel injection — are already available in our production cars. Other technological elements in the F 700 will be gradually introduced to our production vehicles over the next few years. While the complete package with all of its technologies still needs to be further developed, our objective is nevertheless to introduce these technologies to the market as quickly as possible. Our research vehicles have always featured technologies that were eventually installed in our production cars. For example, the Active Body Control system in the C 112 from 1999 was later introduced as a standard feature in the CL-Class, and the navigation system from the Vario Research Car is now a normal feature of our vehicles today. The list goes on, of course.

Aren’t there other measures for optimizing fuel consumption that could be implemented more quickly and less expensively?

The keys to reducing fuel consumption are vehicle efficiency and drive system efficiency — and we focus on both in order to best exploit the potential in this area. In terms of drive systems, BLUETEC has made our efficient diesel engines the cleanest diesels in the world. In addition, the second-generation gasoline direct injection engine in the CLS 350 CGI consumes ten percent less fuel than the unit used in the predecessor model. We will introduce this technology to other vehicle models as well, starting with the E-Class this year. The other key I mentioned is vehicle efficiency, and here we’re working on reducing weight and rolling resistance, and improving vehicle aerodynamics. All of these issues were addressed in the F700, whose design is dominated by soft, flowing shapes described as “Aqua Dynamic” by our design engineers. The F 700 also uses tires especially developed with the research vehicle in mind These tires reconcile the conflict between achieving low rolling resistance on the one hand, and sophisticated rolling characteristics on the other.

How exactly does the PRE-SCAN chassis function? We know that it achieves an unprecedented level of comfort, but the question is whether anyone really needs such a “super chassis” — especially in industrialized countries, where roads are of good quality.

We always seek to improve our performance, and as a rule we’re never satisfied with what we’ve achieved. It was this attitude that produced the PRE-SCAN chassis, which is basically the logical next step in the development of the ABC chassis in our production cars. ABC uses an active hydraulic unit to constantly adjust the vehicle’s shock absorbers to the situation at hand. The PRE-SCAN chassis goes one step further, however, by employing optical sensors that scan the road surface up ahead in order to identify uneven stretches. This enables the vehicle to either tighten up or loosen the Active Body Control suspension even before a rough stretch is driven — and it can do so individually at each wheel. The result for the driver is an unprecedented experience, a “flying carpet feeling” of driving comfort under all road conditions.

The F 700 focuses on fuel consumption and comfort. What issues will Mercedes engineers address in their next research vehicle?

As I said before, Mercedes-Benz research vehicles reflect our vision of the automotive future. While the demand for individual mobility will continue to increase, the form such mobility takes will change because more and more people will be living in large metropolitan areas. We will also be spending more time in our vehicles. We plan to offer customers effective solutions for dealing with these changing conditions, without sacrificing anything in terms of reliability, safety, or performance. We will also further reduce fuel consumption and emissions with the help of innovative drive systems and vehicle concepts. We’ve already gone a long way toward meeting these demands with today’s Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Nevertheless, we will continue to identify new trends at an early stage and prepare our vehicles to accommodate them. As the inventor of the automobile, Mercedes-Benz will help shape systems for sustainable mobility in the future as well, while at the same time offering its customers premium vehicles tailored to their individual needs. So you certainly have plenty to look forward to, as our next research vehicle will also feature innovative solutions that will set new standards.