Mercedes-Benz Uses Science Fiction To Imagine The Future Of Off-Roading

Automakers are getting ready for the Los Angeles Auto Show, where a lot of crazy concept cars will debut alongside new production models.

Mercedes-Benz is getting in on the fun, with the Ener-G-Force: a civilian spinoff of a vehicle the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio created for the Los Angeles Design Challenge 2012, which asked entrants to design the "Highway Patrol Vehicle 2025."

Taking the G-Class SUV as inspiration, the team shrunk the windows, added 20-inch rims, and bulked up the grille. To make it viable for off-roading, the designers took the emergency lights off the roof.

The Ener-G-Force is conceived as a clean energy vehicle: Mercedes-Benz says it has a "hydro-tech converter" that, through some unexplained process, generates electricity and emits only water.

A full-scale model of the concept car will be on display at the LA Auto Show at the end of the month.

Despite Mercedes' admission that the Ener-G-Force is "pure, rendered science fiction," Gordon Wagener, Director of Design at Mercedes-Benz Cars, says the concept could "be a clue about a new beginning for the off-road design idiom of Mercedes-Benz."

We don't expect to see the "hydro-tech" converter anytime soon, but the look of the Ener-G-Force is a viable option for future G-Class vehicles.

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