«The country is truly in fast forward mode.»
Related story: «The car is dead, long live the car»In an attempt to improve both the driving and living experience in China’s traffic-filled mega-cities, designers at Mercedes’ Advanced Design Studio – which officially opened yesterday in Beijing – equipped the G-Code with a plug-in hybrid drive system that has a long electric operating range to reduce emissions. «For the automotive industry, China has become the most important market worldwide,» said Hubertus Troska, board member of Mercedes’ parent company, Daimler AG. The G-Code was presented at the opening of the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Beijing on 3 November 2014. At the rear, an LED light strip stretches entirely across its width, hosting indicators, tail lights and break lights. Images from the rear-view cameras are superimposed at the edges of the wide-screen display across the instrument panel. In addition to plug-in technology, the G-Code would also be able generate electricity via its «multi-voltaic silver» finish, which acts like a giant solar cell. «The G-Code is both beautiful and intelligent, and interprets our typical Mercedes Coupé design idiom,» said Gorden Wagener, head of design of Daimler AG. Targeted at city dwellers driving on a day-to-day basis, the concept study includes cameras positioned at the top of each disguised A pillar – vertical supports holding either side of the windshields in place – to replace the standard rear-view mirrors. German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz’s new Beijing design studio has unveiled a concept hybrid Sports Utility Coupé (SUC) with a skin that generates electricity using solar and wind power. A combustion engine, which runs on hydrogen, would power the front wheels and an electric motor drives the rear axle, transmitting power to each of the rear wheels selectively.
