As new technologies will allow for a new kind of driving there is room for implementing innovative interior architecture in future luxury cars. The main goal for this master thesis was to find out what a user truly needs in a Mercedes EQ interior for a level 4 autonomous driving vehicle in a context around the year 2035. Furthermore, the design brief specified a sustainability frame as a key part of the design scope.

Problem
One might think it is easy to imagine a vehicle that operates fully autonomously and in which a user is totally irresponsible for driving the vehicle. But before we arrive at this point, we will see cars transitioning from the way they are now through a stage in which a user is partly responsible for driving yet can partly disengage driving obligations in specific situations. Also, with the automotive industry being under increasing pressure to become sustainable and classic status obtaining features such as big engines mismatching this goal, Mercedes stated the desire to have the user gain status through being sustainable in a luxury vehicle.

Analysis
To deliver a fresh insight to the industry and client it was chosen to use the Vision in Design-method. This method was fitting for envisioning a well-argued future context and to map likely behaviour of the Mercedes driver but also other people involved in this future context. Different attitudes in luxury automobiling were found and it was decided that the attitude of obtaining status by ‘being a paragon of sustainable automobiling’ would be the segment in which we would aim to position Mercedes EQ to subsequently pull the Mercedes-Benz brand as a whole into this direction. Furthermore, to make the concept Mercedes-fitting, an extensive analysis of the brand was executed to integrate a clear and expected link to specific elements of Mercedes’ heritage in the design.

Vision
Following the newly formulated strategy, a design vision was created. This vision covers a mission statement that aims to have Mercedes EQ users be a ‘paragon of sustainable luxury automobiling’ and to provide a ‘car interior in which the user can optimally be, considering everyday and real situations’. Multiple moods to cover these everyday and real situations were summed up, and it was found that a cosy old train coupe lounge served as a fitting interaction analogy for the desired interactions. In this analogy and through extensive brainstorming and sketching, a table and/or desk surface was found to be a key element in the interior around which the rest of the architecture could follow.

Design
Extensive research and ergonomic reviews lead to a tangible design basis.

Evaluation
The design tells an honest story in which the need to rush for users is decreased. The integrated elements are, also with the help of industry experts, well-argued and in a research based future context. They can be further detailed following the classic design for sustainability principles. The ideas were valued so much by Mercedes that, during this thesis, their research and development team put effort in helping with developing the proposition.