Mercedes has just unveiled the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6, and it’s a sneak peak at the future’s most expensive, luxurious cars. The electric concept car was shown off earlier this week at this year’s classic car convention in Pebble Beach, California, and combines the old and the new to produce a “traditional” yet highly innovative coupe concept.
Although the styling of the car isn’t the most important thing about it, it’s clearly one of the best. Thanks to a gargantuan 6m-long wheelbase, swooping lines and a bonnet that doesn’t seem to stop, the Mercedes-Maybach would look at home on the streets of Gotham City. One thing you won’t find, though, is wing mirrors – as is common with pretty much every visionary car shown in the past few years, the Mercedes-Maybach swaps out traditional wing-mirrors for cameras.
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As with some of Mercedes-Benz’ most famous cars, the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 also features gullwing doors – but not Falcon wing ones like the Tesla Model X. As you’d expect, the new concept sits on ridiculous wheels, too, so you’ll find four 24-inch wheels, which take inspiration from last year’s Mercedes Concept IAA car at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show.
The Concept IAA’s DNA is also evident at the rear of the concept car too, where the Mercedes-Maybach 6 features a huge amount of overhang and thin strips of rear lights. While the overhang lends an elegant, classic look to the car, it’s also there to make the car to be more efficient through the air – just like the Concept IAA of 2015.
Like most concept cars nowadays, Mercedes says the Mercedes-Maybach 6 would be powered with an electric drivetrain. According to the car’s designers, the Mercedes-Maybach 6 would use a compact magnet synchronous electric motor on each wheel, resulting in all-wheel drive – and should have around 550 kW (750 hp) on tap. That gives the concept car a projected 0‑100 km/h figure of under four seconds, and a limited top speed of 250 km/h.
Despite the speed the Mercedes-Maybach 6 would also feature a 500km range, and Mercedes have also suggests the car would use a DC-powered quick charge system. That technology, Mercedes reckons, would give you around 100km of range in just 5 minutes.
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Of course, the Mercedes-Maybach 6 won’t be seen on the road in its current-form, but it’s an interesting project from Mercedes, and gives us some important clues about what’s next in the carmaker’s pipeline. Just like the Rolls Royce concept unveiled earlier this year, the Mercedes-Maybach 6 shows how carmakers will address the combination of luxury and technology – and also how they’ll deal without an internal combustion engine.
For example, just like the Rolls Royce, the Mercedes-Maybach concept features a huge front bonnet. In the past this would be filled with a grand, gas-guzzling engine, but in both the Rolls-Royce and the Mercedes, the bonnet is simply used as a space to store luggage.
Although the imminent arrival of electric cars might be seen as the death of classic, passionate motoring for some, it’s great to see that huge brands like Mercedes and Rolls Royce are using technology as way to once again bring back classic designs and ideas.
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