Mercedes has marked 125 years since Karl Benz registered the patent for a "vehicle with gas-engine drive" with a new sculpture previewing its future design language and the announcement of a new patent for a breakthrough in battery technology.
At its official 125th anniversary celebrations today (January 29) in Stuttgart, around 1400 guests witnessed the unveiling of the sculpture and the new technology announcement, as well as the start of the firm's attempts to prove the viability of hydrogen as a fuel of the future by sending three B-class F-cells on an around the world trip.
See the official pics of the Mercedes Aesthetics 125 sculpture
The patent, presented today to Mercedes by the German Patent and Trade Mark office, is for what Mercedes calls "bipolar flat-cell frame" lithium-ion battery technology. The single battery cell technology, that also has its production protected by Mercedes, is more compact, cooler and more efficient than current accumulator batteries for electric cars.
"This technology is now in the development stage at Daimler and is potentially a further step along the way to the industrialisation of lithium-ion batteries," the firm said in a statement.
The sculpture has been dubbed Aesthetics 125 by Mercedes and is based around the firm's belief that its "design is art". The firm said the sculpture was a look ahead at its future design language, combining "elements of an automobile’s interior and exterior by means of sweeping, almost soaring shape transitions".
See the official pics of the Mercedes Aesthetics 125 sculpture
The model was constructed using innovative rapid-prototyping technology, which enables digital data to be transferred directly to a design object. "The technology works with various materials and applies them in fine layers so that no waste material is produced when a sculpture is created," said the statement.
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