By: Jason Woosey
Beijing - The debut of the sleek little G-Code concept has sparked rumours that Mercedes-Benz is working on a compact crossover that's even smaller and cheaper than the current GLA.
Showcasing many fascinating future possibilities that go beyond just design, the G-Code was built to celebrate the opening of Merc's new Product Engineering Centre in Beijing, China, and the vehicle was largely inspired by the urban buzz of large Asian cities.
Mercedes-Benz classifies its new baby as a Sports Utility Coupé and measuring 4.1 metres in length, it's similar in size to the Mini Paceman, which would directly rival the little Merc if it were to see light of day. But is a sub-GLA model really in the pipeline? That rumour is doing its rounds.
STAR TREK BLING
While such a vehicle would take styling inspiration from the hydrogen-hybrid G-Code concept car, they'd almost certainly tone it down in all respects.
As it should be, the concept is a flight of fancy with its 21-inch alloy wheels with carbon-fibre spokes, pillarless cabin with suicide rear doors and wrap-around windscreen with invisible A-pillars. If you're a Star Trek geek, you'll appreciate multi-layered star matrix effect that replaces the grille's air intake. Inspired by the Starship Enterprise's holographic lower drive pod, the system pulsates light, changing colour in accordance with the drive mode that's selected. Yes, it changes to red in sports mode.
CEREMONIOUS CABIN
The cabin offers seating for four and its designers aimed for a pleasant 'collision' of digital and analogue as well as dark and light. The driver must 'activate' the vehicle via his or her smartphone, after which all the concealed driving controls like the pedals and instrument panel automatically come out from hiding. Next, the steering wheel folds out like a butterfly and the air vents and infotainment display emerge. Entering this car is a “ceremony”, after all.
Then it goes all doctor-doctor on you.
The shell-like seats are fitted with 3D body scanners that can measure the physical 'wellness' of the occupants and, if they so choose, this info can be fed to the central display. If this info shows that you need to be massaged, heated or cooled, the seats will happily play along.
What this built-in doc won't tell you is that walking is healthier than riding on one of the two electric scooters hidden in the boot floor for convenient city use. And that the Banting diet is not necessarily much fun.
POWER BY HYDROGEN AND SUN
The G-Code concept's drivetrain is a melting pot of advanced technologies that Mercedes-Benz is exploring at the moment. The front wheels are powered by a small turbocharged combustion engine that runs on hydrogen while the back wheels are attached to an electric motor that is charged by regeneration, conventional plugging-in and by the 'multi-voltiac' silver paint that basically acts like a solar cell.
The drivetrain can vary between front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, depending on driving situation at hand.