Mercedes Looks to the Past for Style and to the Future for Tech with the Vision Iconic Concept

Mercedes-Benz unveiled the Vision Iconic concept, a statement on the future design language for Mercedes EVs.
The long hood and swept-back cabin are influenced by luxurious Mercedes coupes from the 1930s.
The Vision Iconic is covered in range-boosting thin solar modules, a technology Mercedes says it is currently researching for use in future EVs.

For an automaker as old as Mercedes-Benz, it can be a design challenge to balance celebrating the company's heritage with creating something new and fresh. Mercedes is currently reinventing itself for an electric future, and after a stylistic false start with the blob-like EQE and EQS, the brand is taking a more traditional approach with its latest EVs, such as the new electric GLC SUV. Now Mercedes has unveiled the Vision Iconic, a statement for the company's design direction that draws inspiration from the brand's storied past while gazing into the crystal ball.

Sinister, Decadent Design

The Vision Iconic looks like the sort of car that might've been driven by Cruella de Vil, seemingly influenced by 1930s Mercedes-Benz models like the SSK and 500K. The proportions are spectacular and imposing, with a hood the length of a football field, a gracefully sloping roofline, a blunt front end, and ginormous wheels.

Mercedes-Benz Vision Iconic

Up front, you'll notice the new electric Mercedes family grille in all of its illuminated glory. Just as on the electric GLC, the grille's chrome border surrounds hundreds of tiny square lights, each sitting on a panel that is separated by ribs branching off of a lit-up spine. The Vision Iconic takes it a step further, illuminating the Mercedes three-pointed-star hood ornament that sits proudly atop the nose.

The headlights mirror that three-pointed star motif, sitting inside a slim, pointed housing with vertical slats. This lighting cue is already popping up in production Mercedes models, including the new GLC EV, CLA-class, and upcoming Mercedes-Benz S-class refresh. A pair of curved vents lives just ahead of the doors, and the only other decorations along the lengthy flanks are a chrome strip on the side sill and a shiny border to the gun-slit windows. The rear end takes more cues from the 300 SL of the 1950s, with simple LED taillights capping off the curvaceous bodywork.

Mercedes-Benz Vision Iconic

Mercedes touts the Vision Iconic's cabin as providing "lounge-like comfort" for an era of autonomous driving, but it is still far more traditional and less like a living room on wheels than other Mercedes concepts such as the Vision V. The large, four-spoke steering wheel looks like something you might find on a 19th-century sailing ship, and there is a mechanical gauge behind it that looks similar to the intricate inner workings of high-end watches.

The instrument panel is more like a glass case and is dubbed the "Zeppelin" by Mercedes, likely due to its ovoid shape that recalls rigid airships of the early 1900s. Delicate glass structures round off both ends of the dashboard and emit a blue glow, while a thin LED strip runs across the base of the windshield and down the doors. At the center is a band containing a series of clocks, one of which carries a Mercedes-Benz logo and apparently serves "as an AI companion."

Mercedes-Benz Vision Iconic

Inside the Zeppelin sits what appears to be a large metal bottle covered in what seem like topographic representations of mountains; Mercedes doesn't explain what this is, but it feels reminiscent of the Gallery in modern Rolls-Royces that displays artwork on the passenger's side dashboard. The doors wear classy mother-of-pearl trim, while the brass door handles are backed by a series of tiny blue lights. The seats are wrapped in a deep-blue velvet, while the floor is finished in straw marquetry with an elegant blue pattern.

The Future of Driving

The Vision Iconic isn't just about style. Mercedes says it is currently researching "wafer-thin" solar modules that could be applied to the body of electric vehicles, allowing the Vision Iconic to draw extra energy from the sun and boost range. Mercedes claims that an area of 118 square feet—which the company says covers the surface of a mid-size SUV—could help add up to 7450 miles of range per year in ideal conditions. According to Mercedes, this photovoltaic-active surface is easily recyclable, doesn't have any rare earth metals, and can even generate energy when the car is turned off.

While the Vision Iconic has a steering wheel, Mercedes is still focused on letting their cars handle the driving duties without human input. The concept is envisioned as having Level 2 point-to-point automated driving in the city, with Level 4 automated driving kicking in for highway driving. Mercedes says it is making advances in artificial intelligence and claims that neuromorphic computing, where the computer acts similarly to the functioning of a human brain, could make "AI calculations significantly more energy-efficient and faster." Mercedes says this could reduce the energy consumption of data processing for automated driving by up to 90 percent and would also help the safety systems react more quickly.

Mercedes-Benz Vision Iconic

The Vision Iconic also uses steer-by-wire, with no physical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels. Mercedes says this allows for smoother integration with rear-axle steering—key for making such a long vehicle agile in tight spaces—and makes it easier to park, since the steering ratio could be reprogrammed for low-speed maneuvers so the driver wouldn't need to rotate the wheel end over end.

The Vision Iconic is almost definitely not destined for production, and sadly we don't expect Mercedes to offer any sort of dramatic, retro-themed coupe in the near future. But the Vision Iconic's blend of modern and vintage style and futuristic technologies will likely shape what the next generation of Mercedes EVs will look and drive like.