Mercedes envisions the patrol car of 2025.
We’re not sure if it’s more like something you’d see in Mad Max or BladeRunner, but the folks At Mercedes-Benz have come up with what they’re billing as the police car of 2025, featuring an almost military-style remake of the latest Benz G-Class dubbed the Ener-G-Force.
It isn’t that much of a stretch, in fact, considering the military heritage of the original Mercedes-Benz Gelandewagen. The project was, in fact, commissioned as part of the LA Design Challenge, an annual shoot-out among designers both student and professional, sponsored by the Los Angeles Auto Show – which will display the winner and five runners-up later this month.
This year’s challenge was to come up with the “Highway Patrol Vehicle of 2025,” and participants were advised to consider that “Law enforcement will have to prepare for even more crowded roads with electronically monitored and guided traffic, a much larger population and changes in human behavior. People will still feel young and active even later in life. Outdoor activities will dominate leisure, as will the desire for freedom and adventure.
“The new times will also call for new police vehicles,” the project organizers outlined. “They must be able to reach any place conceivable quickly and reliably – even far away from any pavement. And they must do so in an exceptionally environmentally friendly way using alternative energy sources. Enhanced green-car characteristics and off-road capabilities will be among the fundamental virtues of a police car in 2025.”
What Mercedes has come up with in the form of the Ener-G-Force is recognizably a G-Class but with some extensive updates, including a more rounded shape than the classic Galendewagen box. There are deeply sunken headlamps, with running lights and turn signals mounted atop the fenders. Massive wheels with 20-inch rims look ready to navigate even the roughest terrain.
Where a traditional spare would be mounted on the tailgate, Mercedes has given the concept a special storage compartment allowing quick and easy access to a variety of law enforcement and rescue tools.
Power, meanwhile, comes from a fuel cell system and there are even tanks on the roof to collect and store water that can be electrolyzed into hydrogen for use in the fuel cell system – giving the Ener-G-Force a suggested 500-mile, zero-emissions range. Each wheel is driven by an independent electric hub motor.
Since this in an electric driveline, the Ener-G-Force can also receive a boost from batteries that could be molded into the side skirts.
The Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force is outfitted with a 360-degree topographical scanner that constantly monitors the surrounding terrain so that even off-road spring and other suspension parameters are constantly adjusted for maximum traction.
“The Ener-G-Force is the vision of an off-roader that, while reflecting tomorrow’s adventures, also invokes the genes of the Mercedes-Benz off-road icon, the G-Class. Modern and cool, it could also be a clue about a new beginning for the off-road design idiom of Mercedes-Benz,” explains Gorden Wagener, Director of Design at Mercedes-Benz Cars.