This year’s Frankfurt Motor Show presented the usual horde of mega horsepower monsters and eyeball-grabbing concepts, but the theme that came through strongest was cars that talk to each other and actively assist you with driving duties — hence the official slogan of Mobility Connects. Although it’s not an entirely pleasing trend for traditionalists, there’s no getting around the fact that the age of self-driving cars, voice-activated technology and interconnectedness is here, and that the market for these technologies continues to grow.
“The intelligent, connected car communicates with its surroundings and with other road users,” says Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry. “It can park itself, warn its driver of traffic obstacles in good time and prevent accidents.”
Incorporating this intelligent technology into cars of the coming years will make driving safer and more comfortable, he adds. “[Frankfurt] shows that cars and smartphones are merging into a single unit, and the connected car is becoming a mobile communication platform. Today, one-quarter of all new cars already have an internet connection, and two years from now the figure will be 80 per cent.”
Although the technology already exists for cars that autonomously drive themselves, Audi board member Luca de Meo says this is not the objective for now, particularly in view of road safety legislation around the globe. “We are nowhere near the stage where these things can be implemented yet. We are talking about systems that make driving safer and more comfortable, not where you can sit there and let the car drive while you sit on social media. For us, it’s about safety and comfort.”
Mercedes-Benz chose a different path for its Frankfurt showstopper, the ultra-aerodynamic Concept IAA, designed entirely by the power of a supercomputer’s multiple processors. The prototype was executed from start to finish without a single second spent testing in a wind tunnel nor any physical hardware model constructed during the process. The car takes active aerodynamics to a whole new level by altering its profile at speeds of more than 80km/h. It does this as eight sections extend at the rear to help optimise airflow over the car, flaps extend from the front bumper, and the wheel rims change from dished to a flat profile to smooth airflow around the car.
“The concept is that it’s two cars in one,” says Martin Konermann, the aerodynamicist responsible for the Concept IAA, as well as the S-Class and Mercedes-Maybach. “You have the design (low-speed) mode with a drag coefficient of 0.25, and above 80km/h we switch into aero mode with a Cd 0.19. You can drive in pure electric mode with a range of up to 60-62km, so yes, we focused on power train efficiency and lightweight, but really, especially on aerodynamics.
“With our only hardware model we proved the computer right,” says Konermann.
“But actually the most difficult stage was trying to bring the styling department on board with the active rear end. It was quite complicated, but we reached our focus ... to resolve the conflict of function and aesthetics.”