Mercedes has partially revealed the interior of its 2021 S-Class, showing a new 'yacht-inspired' design and upcoming technology to be embedded into its dashboard, increased back row digitalisation and the raft of assistance features it’ll include. The new layout amounts to a substantial boost in technology over the outgoing W222 model, and – in typical S-Class tradition – it also provides an early glimpse of what’s to come in future Mercedes models lower down the food chain.
We’re already aware of the W223 S-Class’s pioneering adoption of augmented reality into its head-up display (scroll down to the story below for more on that), but now we’re shown just how extensive the car’s digital features will be. The dash and centre console are largely free of physical buttons, with all but a handful of ancillary controls integrated into the touchscreen system, which gets next-gen software, as you’d expect. The instrument cluster, too, features a larger display with sharper graphics.
As per 2020 tradition, the small number of buttons in the cabin are mostly touch sensitive (although physical controls for things like the wipers and indicators are retained), while the rear passengers get their own screens, with two directly ahead and a tablet in the middle. That’s somewhat predictable, but the addition of more assistance systems, enabled by cabin sensors, enable things like more intelligent gesture and voice control, as well as genuinely brand-new features to be included in a car.
The seats and mirror can automatically adjust to a driver’s shape and size, for example, while the rear blind will automatically raise when the driver is sensed to be looking rearwards. The exit warning system also recognises when someone moves to open the door and flashes the ambient lights red if a car is approaching. The car can detect when a baby seat is not correctly fitted, too, and the next-gen MBUX tech is able to recognise which driver is behind the wheel (it can remember seven profiles) via a specific QR code that’s scanned on entry.
If that all sounds a bit risky in the cyber department, Mercedes has improved the security of its software with a PIN code for certain functions, as well as fingerprint, face and voice recognition tech. The 'Hey Mercedes' voice system is also substantially more intelligent, and able to answer less 'formal' questions. If a driver tells the car they’re “tired”, the S-Class will respond by activating its ‘energising’ programme, while a rear passenger stating the same thing will turn on the back row’s ‘wellbeing’ system. Whatever that is.
This S-Class is set to be appropriately high-tech for the twenties, then, and that’s not even taking into account what’s due to come under the bonnet (or, in the case of the EQS, platform). Handily, we’ve more on that in the story below...
Previous story: 22.07.2020
It’s fair to assume that the tech boffins working on the next generation Mercedes S-Class have as much on their plate as the engineers focused on the mechanical bits. The 2021 model, seen here with light camouflaging, will introduce all-new augmented reality technology to the head-up display for the first time, projecting active illustrations into the driver’s eyeline ahead. It’s all very video game-esque.
The digital features – previewed in a Mercedes video shown below – essentially takes much of what Mercedes has pioneered in its present-gen MBUX technology from the infotainment and instrument cluster displays, and projects it onto the windscreen. But it goes further with clearer, more instructive directional arrows and even steering lines, which are not dissimilar to Gran Turismo racing lines – although these MBUX-AR ones are for safety rather than speed. Obviously.
While such systems might seem distracting to PHers wanting a simpler driving experience, remember that the S-Class has always been a car designed to take as much effort away from driving as possible. This stuff is there for those who want to travel hundreds of miles with minimal workload and maximum comfort. As such, we’re also expecting further evolution of the flagship’s driver assist features, which include steering, lane change and traffic assist tech the current S-Class took to the next level when it arrived in the last decade.
No less significant will be the rolling out of electrification powertrain tech across the board. Several if not all of the core S-Class models are expected to come with plug-in hybrid systems, with a range-topping EQS – which runs a different platform for obvious reasons – due with pure battery power. It’ll head Mercedes’s fast-growing EQ line-up with a 310-mile range, while the PHEVs below it will provide an impressive (for hybrids) range of over 60 miles to bolster Merc's fleet efficiency claims. That latter range is about double the class average of today.
Mercedes’s latest development car provides our clearest glimpse yet of the evolutionary design to be applied to its BMW 7 Series rival. It’s a little sharper in places and the front grille looks a tad larger, but otherwise, it’s all unmistakably S-Class. We spot body lean in more than one picture, which suggests Mercedes hasn’t gone fully Audi A8 with its anti-roll hardware. But there’s inevitably going to be active suspension technology to keep that mass in check, evolving the AirMatic+ system and 48V electrical architecture of today’s model. Expect some new innovations there, too.
As for the AMG stuff, we’ll be keeping an eye out for prototypes in the coming weeks. Mercedes is unlikely to leave the brilliantly talented Audi S8 and surprisingly dynamic BMW 750i M Sport without a new Affalterbach-developed rival.
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