Formula Zero Racer: Day Dreaming by Mercedes-Benz
by Warren McLaren, Sydney 
on 10.29.08
If the podracing in StarWars I was tempered by the grace of the Greenbird’s land yacht design then you might have something that Mercede-Benz designers are saying in 2025 would be called Formula Zero. (Except, of course that we already have Formula Zero racing.)
In the Mercedes-Benz conceptual model the racer combines electric hub motors, an aero-efficient solar skin and a high-tech rigid sail. The idea, apparently being, that teams all set off with equal quantities of stored energy. To win you need not only be the swiftest, but also the one with the most energy still in reserve. Oh, and spectators see the race through a transparent race track.
Might just be more grown men spending too much time playing with their CAD rending tools or it might lead to real vehicle breakthroughs. More pix after the fold.
We stumbled on this at ::Popular Science, who found it at Gizmodo, who in turn seem to unearthed it via the Los Angeles Design Challenge
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Neat looking car, but it looks like someone just really liked the track designs from Speed Racer
Nothing new here, but very nicely done. The IHPVA, Freak Week at Bonneville, Electrathon, Shell & Michelin efficiency rallies and solar car racing have been doing cool stuff for decades. It would be nice though if MBZ got off their Global Warming Arses and did something nice for the planet with their incredible resources.
The silliest thing about those pictures is that the highly banked track would act as a windblock, preventing the sails from doing anything useful, and ensuring that they provide only greenwashing, which is what an event like this would be about anyway.
The ugliest thing ever build.
Do you want to tell me, that looks like a car?
Looks pretty cool to me, I think most cars now are ugly anyway because they're not nearly as aerodynamic as they could be. People talk about the Aptera and how people not be ready for its 'space age' design. When are people going to realize we have been in the space age since the 60s and for cars to be at their most aerodynamic they're going to have to look like something out of a sci-fi movie. I guess that's why they're using the Aptera in the new Star Trek movie.
From top and front, it kinda looks amazing. When view it in the front, it resembles something like Batmobile from Michael Keaton era. But when view from side, it looks pretty ugly. Only the shining stuff that could save the day.
Looks like a car/shark hybrid to me. Interesting concept and great marketing for them.
Interesting deisgn concept, one factor from these images bothers me. It seems that the part of the fin anchores to the main body directly in front of the drivers forward view area. Even as concepts do designers not think about the practicality of a design.