Profits from the sale of cars today finance the development of their replacements. Each automaker’s R&D team is tasked with planning and innovating for the future, although the scope of these steps varies widely.

Mercedes-Benz is going full steam ahead and hasn’t been shy about showing off the innovations the company is working on. Many of these are likely to enter production in one form or another in the next decade, albeit on a small scale.

“Leading technology means iconic design, and that’s what we’ve always done and will always continue to do. Underneath the theme of progress, you’ll see innovation… It’s innovation in a different way because we’re not talking about innovation and technology, we’re talking about it in a company environment and human needs, so we will align new technologies with human needs and see how and how we ultimately reconcile them,” she said.

The automaker has spent nearly €74 billion on research and development for its Cars and Vans models over the past decade, making it one of the top spenders in the automotive industry.

Transitional car models and powertrains have yielded results, but the biggest impacts are yet to come. The company unveiled many of them during a two-day media-only technology showcase at Mercedes’ research and development headquarters in Germany.

Extraction of solar energy in unconventional ways

The future Mercedes may not be solar-powered, but it may be able to draw significant amounts of energy from the sun to meet its daily driver needs, and more depending on where it’s parked.

Here’s how it works. Solar modules are applied to the body of an electric vehicle through a process similar to applying a thin layer of paste. As it stands, it cannot be applied like the colors the company uses on its current vehicles.

The modules are tiny, significantly thinner than a human hair, the company said. It weighs 50 grams per square meter. At 118.4 square feet, about the surface area of ​​a mid-size SUV, the solar cells could produce the energy to drive the vehicle up to 7,456 miles per year. The average American travels 14,263 miles per year, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

At 20 percent efficient, the modules are about as efficient as solar panels on the roof of a house. They generate energy even when the vehicle is parked.

When a cell-covered car reaches the end of its life, the cells are “easy to recycle.” In addition, they are “significantly cheaper to manufacture than conventional solar modules,” a Mercedes representative said.

Change your perspective with augmented reality

No need for a head-up display and no need to miss a text, email or Teams message. It sounds too good to be true, but it could be the future of Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

In a decade, augmented reality glasses have gone from large, cumbersome headsets to technology that fits into thick frames similar to something Clark Kent would wear as a disguise. The technology is becoming more usable and cheaper too.

With a “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) approach, customers could carry their AR glasses in their vehicle. When worn in a Mercedes model, they adapted to the actions being taken, displaying driving and infotainment information, controllable by eye gaze, allowing the driver to never take their eyes off the road and looking at the infotainment screen.