Like its luxury counterparts that made a significant electric push at the beginning of the decade, Mercedes-Benz is reexamining its roots as it charts a new zero-emissions route. Well-heeled buyers and riders of its flagship S-Class sedan didn’t take to its EV counterpart, the EQS, as planned, so the German automaker has extended the life of the gas and hybrid luxury sedan by doing what it’s done for decades: making it more upscale with technology.
Because the S-Class people are more likely to be concerned with how the car feels when being driven than they are with how it drives. That’s not to say Mercedes hasn’t appealed to people who like to drive big sedans with six-figure price tags over the years, but the S-Class is a fixture of big financial areas in major cities like New York, London, Tokyo, and Dubai, to name just a few. And the people in the back seat demand absolute comfort—or else.
There’s plenty of technology talk in Mercedes’ description of the 2027 S-Class lineup, but the most eye-catching is the use of artificial intelligence and V2X capability to control the car’s suspension damping and control over various roads.
The new “Intelligent Damping” uses radar and cameras already used for other driver assistance functions to scan the road in front of the vehicle to prepare for road imperfections such as broken pavement or potholes, set up the adaptive air suspension or optional E-BODY ACTIVE CONTROL (emphasis Mercedes’) to stiffen or relax the dampening and compensate for the impact and mitigate what’s felt by the people inside. Information gathered from certain roads and conditions is then stored in the Mercedes Information Cloud, which will then keep it for familiar routes so it doesn’t have to re-learn existing bumps and breaks in the road. The Car-to-X information can also be transmitted to other Mercedes vehicles with the same technology and traveling over the same roads.
Mercedes has included Vehicle-to-Vehicle capabilities for about a decade as its models have been updated, but they’ve largely been able to connect with the brand’s other vehicles rather than other services from communications providers or local infrastructure. And automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, have been using various technologies to iron out road imperfections and keep passengers comfortable for decades, with different levels of success. Ford, for example, has been using its own camera-based system to detect potholes for about a decade now.
While the technology is new to the S-Class, it’ll likely be seen on the company’s other models in the next few years.
The latest S-Class will leverage Google Cloud Automotive AI services in concert with the built-in Google Maps through the MB.OS software backing the car’s infotainment functions, as well as things like Gmail or Outlook, should you want to work in the car (yes, you can take Microsoft Teams calls in your Mercedes). MB.OS is also responsible for powering the driver assistance systems.
Other comfort innovations that Mercedes insists are in the name of safety, too, include the heated seatbelts for front-seat occupants. Tied to the heated seat functions, the company says they’re intended to make people more comfortable taking off thicker coats in cold weather while in the vehicle and ensuring the seat belts perform as intended for a person of their size.
The Digital Vent Control joins the party of vehicles that insist require you to adjust the air vents electronically as if that is somehow better than just doing it with your hands.
The 2027 S-Class will be offered with six and eight-cylinder gasoline engines using a 48-volt electrical architecture, up to 530 horsepower, and with standard all-wheel drive. The traffic-friendlier S 580e plug-in hybrid version with 576 horsepower uses a six-cylinder gasoline engine mated to a 22-kWh battery pack and an electric-only range that’s still to be announced. New models should be available in U.S. dealers during the second half of this year.
AI continues to dominate car functions that drivers and passengers interact with regularly, and that doesn’t look like it’ll change anytime soon. For now, it’s taking a bigger role in controlling and monitoring functions, adjusting parts of the car that aren’t regularly seen or touched, but are essential to the safety and comfort of the people inside. It remains to be seen if it’s a gimmick for a wealthy clientele or something people can expect to find on lower-priced vehicles in a few years.
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