At the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Tuesday, German luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz has unveiled a unique new concept car, inspired by 2009 blockbuster sci-fi movie Avatar and designed with the input of the film's Academy Award-winning director James Cameron.
It's called the Mercedes-Benz Vision AVTR, and the futuristic concept car features a 110 kilowatt-per hour electric motor that can produce 469 horsepower and a range of about 435 miles.
According to the press release from Mercedes, the car's center console would recognize "the human driver's heartbeat and breath so man and machine literally merge into a fully intuitive experience". This is a nod to Avatar's alien that is able to merge their minds to form symbiotic relationships with one another as as with nature. The car would establish "a biometric connection with the driver," the release said. Although this kind of technology doesn't currently exist in the real world, biometrics in cars are real: South-Korean based automotive manufacturer Hyundai introduced biometric esnsors in the Santa Fe SUV in 2018 that could scan a fingerprint to turn on the vehicle.
The car would have "transparent door shells" and an interior made from recycled materials "transparent door shells" (such as "old clothing, flags and PET plastic bottles") as well as vegan leather. The AVTR would have wheels that glow thanks to LED (inspired by the "Tree of Souls" in the film, which glows in respnose to movements of nearby beings).
The supercar would be powered by battery technology using graphene, which exists in reality, and according to Mercdes-Benz, the graphene-based battery's materials would be completely recycable and compostable.
The Vision AVTR would also drive sideways, not just forward or backward, according to the release.
This is a cool concept car from Mercedes-Benz, and it shows us a glimpse of what the German automaker is looking to take in the near future in terms of autonomous driving and sustainability,
Related: Avatar 2 Concept Art Officially Revealed