LA 2010: Mercedes-Benz BIOME Concept

Mercedes-Benz will debut Mercedes-Benz BIOME Concept at 2010 Los Angeles auto show. Which is a safe and comfortable 2+2 compact car that comes with excellent handling and cutting-edge design.

This concept comes from Mercedes-Benz, which, incidentally, was built not far from Los Angeles at the company’s US design headquarters in Carlsbad, California. The vehicle is called the Biome Concept and is described as a vehicle that “grows in a completely organic environment from seeds sown in a nursery”. In layman’s terms, the Biome Concept is pretty much an organic hybrid that was created in complete symbiosis with nature, producing its own oxygen and contributing to the improvement of air quality.

M-B's German design team created the Smart Weight-Watch, an ultra-compact dunebuggy with removable and recyclable plastic and cloth panels, a carbon fiber tub and tires (you read that last part right) and a lithium-ion battery powering two 15 kW motors. Total weight: exactly 1,000 pounds.

The Biome isn't built the same way normal cars are. Instead, its bodywork is grown from two seeds -- one for the interior, one for the exterior -- that produce an ultralight 'BioFibre', which is then harvested and knitted together to form the car. The wheels, meanwhile, are grown from four separate seeds. This may mean you have to wait 18 years for your car to grow up and become road-legal.




Press Release

At this year’s Los Angeles Design Challenge, the designers from the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studios in Carlsbad, California, surprised everyone with a revolutionary vision. Taking their inspiration from nature, they designed a vehicle which is fully integrated into the ecosystem, from the moment of its creation right through to the end of its service life. The Mercedes-Benz BIOME grows in a completely organic environment from seeds sown in a nursery. Out on the road the car emits pure oxygen, and at the end of its lifespan it can be simply composted or used as building material.

"As the inventor of the motor car, we wanted to illustrate the vision of the perfect vehicle of the future, which is created and functions in complete symbiosis with nature. The Mercedes-Benz BIOME is a natural technology hybrid, and forms part of our earth’s ecosystem. It grows and thrives like the leaves on a tree" according to Hubert Lee, Head of the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studios in Carlsbad. This year the competition had called for the creation of a vision of a safe and comfortable 2+2 compact car featuring good handling and a first-class design, and weighing only 1,000 lbs (around 454 kg/kerb weight).

Mercedes-Benz symbiosis – a partnership with nature The Mercedes-Benz BIOME symbiosis vehicle is made from an ultralight material called BioFibre and tips the scales at just 875.5 lbs (around 394 kg). This material is significantly lighter than metal or plastic, yet more robust than steel. BioFibre is grown from proprietary DNA in the Mercedes-Benz nursery, where it collects energy from the sun and stores it in a liquid chemical bond called BioNectar4534. As part of this process, the vehicle is created from two seeds: The interior of the BIOME grows from the DNA in the Mercedes star on the front of the vehicle, while the exterior grows from the star on the rear. To accommodate specific customer requirements, the Mercedes star is genetically engineered in each case, and the vehicle "grows" when the genetic code is combined with the seed capsule. The wheels are grown from four separate seeds.

The Mercedes-Benz BIOME is powered by BioNectar4534, which is stored in the BioFibre material of the chassis, interior, and wheels. In addition, Mercedes-Benz has developed a technology to equip trees with special receptors which can collect the excess solar energy and turn it into BioNectar4534. This creates a direct link with nature’s energy sources and acts as an incentive to cover mobility energy requirements through more trees and at the same time maintain natural resources. Like plants, the Mercedes-Benz symbiosis vehicle also produces oxygen, thereby contributing to improving air quality. At the end of its service life, the Mercedes-Benz BIOME can be fully composted or used as building material. Thanks to the exclusive use of green technologies, the BIOME vehicle thus blends seamlessly into the ecosystem.

Peugeot RC HYmotion4 Concept Racing Car

With Citroen, Peugeot RC HYmotion4 is a field that is increasingly cluttered with hybrid concepts using a new system that can take the road to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. Fortunately for Peugeot, they have managed not just recycle or rebadge an existing model, but have incorporated this technology into an boldly attractive four door GT coupe.

Peugeot has joined sister-brand Citroen by releasing a concept vehicle based on the new HYmotion4 AWD hybrid system. The new concept is according to Peugeot, a ‘Touring Car Coupe’ that features a number of engineering and technological ideas expected to make their way, if only gradually, into both of the carmaker’s future production models. Unlike the hybrid systems used by current production vehicles, this concept has no direct mechanical connection between the electric and internal combustion drive systems. This way, the RC can operate in either rear, front, or all-wheel-drive modes. That means it can also operate using internal combustion, electric only or blended mode combining both. Propelling this concept is a rear mounted turbocharged 1.6 liter engine driving the rear wheels and producing 218 hp and 206 lb-ft of torque. Up front, an electric motor provides up to another 132 lb-ft of torque and provides a governed combined production of 313 horsepower. This sort of power pays of with acceleration to 62 mph in a mere 4.4 seconds. The electrons are stored in a lithium-ion battery pack of an as unreleased size, but having the electric motor at the front instead of the rear axle means that more kinetic energy can be recaptured through the regenerative braking process. According to Peugeot, the RC can get 52.3 mpg with a minimum output of just 109 g/km of CO2 emissions.

Other Hymotion4 concepts in the mix for the future include Peugeot’s Prologue, which previews an upcoming 3008 crossover, as well as the Citroen Hypnos and C4 WRC rally car. These concepts, according to the manufacturer, are a synthesis of ideas that demonstrate a commitment to both respecting the environment and driving pleasure. If all of the technology that is used within this concept lives up to the manufacturer claims, the French may have the inside track in future hybrid production.