2016 Mercedes Benz Vision Van Drive and Design
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The Vision Van from Mercedes-Benz Vans is a revolutionary van study for the urban environment. As an integrated system, the vehicle merges a number of innovative technologies for last-mile delivery operations and thus sets the standard of performance requirements and solutions for future generations of vans.
The Vision Van evolved as part of the strategic future initiative adVANce. With adVANce, Mercedes-Benz Vans is evolving from a mere van manufacturer into a supplier of holistic system solutions. The company is underscoring this strategy with the Vision Van as a visible manifestation of its innovative strength. The Vision Van boasts an unprecedented level of connectivity of information and technologies. It is the first van worldwide to serve as an integrated concept for a completely digitally connected process chain, from the goods distribution depot to the consignee.
The Vision Van features a fully automated cargo space, integrated drones for autonomous air deliveries and a state-of-the-art joystick control. Powered by a 75 kW electric drive system with a range of up to 270 km, deliveries with the Vision Van are locally emission-free. The electric drive system additionally guarantees that it will remain possible to operate the Vision Van in inner-city zones where the introduction of bans on vehicles with internal combustion engines is planned. The virtually silent electric drive system facilitates late deliveries in residential areas for the purposes of same-day delivery.
The Vision Van merges numerous innovative technologies and serves as the central, intelligent element in a fully connected delivery chain. Innovative algorithms control order picking, the loading of packages, the fully automated cargo space management, route planning for the vehicle and the delivery drones. They also calculate ideal delivery routes for the package deliverer. Automatic order picking takes place at the logistics centre, for example, and consignments are loaded into special racking systems. Driverless handling vehicles load the racks by way of an automated one-shot loading process. The intelligent cargo space management system automatically transfers packages for manual delivery to the deliverer at the delivery destination by means of a package dispenser on board the vehicle. At the same time, the system supplies two drones, each with a payload capacity of two kilogrammes, with consignments for autonomous delivery within a radius of 10 km.
The combination of a cloud-based control software and optimum hardware yields substantial time and efficiency benefits and raises the quality and flexibility of delivery services in the urban environment to a new level. The delivery time per package and the vehicle's curbside time are markedly reduced, for example. The vehicle also opens up new options for same-day and time-definite delivery. Convenience for the end customer is thus enhanced, and failed delivery attempts become an exception. One-shot loading, the automation technology in the cargo space and integration of the delivery drones all contribute to the described increases in efficiency. The technology also virtually rules out any false deliveries.
"With the Vision Van we are integrating the intelligence of a state-of-the-art logistics depot into a van", Volker Mornhinweg points out. "We estimate that this vehicle would enable an increase in productivity of up to 50 percent in last-mile delivery services."
The futuristic design by Mercedes-Benz Vans provides a foretaste of future generations of vans. It fuses the vehicle's intelligence, efficiency and connectivity in an unprecedented manner. The front design alone is enough to transport the beholder into the distant future. The face is defined by the extremely wide windscreen, which curves around to the sidewalls like a high-tech visor, the Black Panel radiator grille with integrated LED matrix via which the Vision Van communicates with its surroundings and the progressively designed LED headlamps. The sharp contours of these elements contrast with the vehicle's smooth surfaces, engaging in a fascinating dialogue between passion/emotion and technology/functionality. The vehicle communicates with its surroundings via LED displays on the front and rear. Warnings appear when the delivery drones take off, when the vehicle stops or when the deliverer alights, for example.
