Mercedes-Benz this week unveiled a new electric concept car that looks back as well as forward. It’s called the Vision One-Eleven, and it’s a reminder that car designers have a long history of predicting the future.
The Vision One-Eleven is inspired by the C111 series of experimental vehicles that first appeared in 1969. With their aerodynamic styling, roof-hinged gullwing doors, and distinctive orange paint, the C111 cars became fixtures of auto show stands and car-magazine features throughout the 1970s. They were more than show cars, though, testing then-trendy ideas like fiberglass body panels and rotary engines.
The supercar-like styling of the original C111 cars is reproduced here, but the Vision One-Eleven is no replica. Like its predecessors, the new concept car is a low-slung (it stands just 46 inches tall) two-seater with gullwing doors. But designers also made some updates, including pixelated lighting elements in the shape of the round C111 headlights, and rounded sides that give the Vision One-Eleven an almost airplane-like quality. And like seemingly every new car, the Vision One-Eleven is also quite a bit larger than its predecessor.
The interiors of the C111 test cars were basic but functional, and that’s also true of this 21st-century tribute, for the most part. The seat cushions are attached directly to the floor, but the seats themselves are upholstered in silver leather, which makes for quite a contrast with the orange exterior. The leather-wrapped aluminum steering wheel also has the same array of buttons as any modern Mercedes, controlling infotainment functions even the forward-thinking designers of the C111 couldn’t imagine.
In the Vision One-Eleven, most of those functions are controlled via augmented reality, which is designed to highlight points of interest outside the car’s windows or eliminate blind spots with an “X-Ray” function that lets the driver “see” through the roof pillars, doors, or hood. However, right now it only works with a Magic Leap 2 AR headset.
The original C111 prototypes tested a variety of internal-combustion engines, but Mercedes now views electric motors as the future. So the Vision One-Eleven uses axial-flux motors which, in addition to having a futuristic-sound name, are one-third lighter than a conventional motor and one-third smaller, according to Mercedes. Electricity is supplied by a battery pack developed with expertise from Mercedes’ Formula One powertrain division.
Like the C111 cars, the Vision One-Eleven is meant to demonstrate that Mercedes is on the cutting edge of technology. Unlike those cars, the Vision One-Eleven is more for show. Unlike the Vision EQXX, for example, Mercedes has no plans to build a fully-working Vision One-Eleven that can be driven on real-world roads. More concept car than development vehicle, it’s a retro-futuristic wrapper for tech we might see on future Mercedes production vehicles — but a good-looking one, for sure.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.