Artist Reimagines the Mercedes-Benz of the Future: Displays an Insanely Clean Interior

Sadly, Mercedes-Benz has nothing to do with the machine and interior we'll explore today. The X Concept, as it's been dubbed by its creator, Shin Kim, is currently nothing more than just a file on someone's hard drive and may remain that way forever. However, that doesn't mean we can't appreciate this simple yet intricate expression.

You may have never encountered Mr. Kim's designs before, as he appears to be a relatively fresh face on the automotive design scene, displaying only one project on his Behance page. Considering it was uploaded early last month, he's fresh alright, and so is the X Concept.

What drew me to the design was precisely the simplicity I mentioned earlier, and while there are images of the X car itself, it's the interior that I want to draw your attention to. If you haven't viewed the gallery yet, now is the time to do so. It'll help you follow along with the words I'll be using.

The idea for the X's interior started from the idea of combining luxury, simplicity, and minimalism into one fluid shape. To start, Mr. Kim shows that the design began with a simple piece of paper, folded and shaped into the cocoon-like interior of the X. It's around this cocoon that the rest of the car seems to be shaped, integrating it into the vehicle's control functions.

For instance, let's take the steering wheel as the perfect example of what I mean. Aside from its own clean-cut design with an integrated LCD screen and minimal buttons to control, the steering column is eliminated and integrated into what can ultimately be considered a dashboard. However, those two branching arms extend beyond the cockpit and are run directly into the X's front wheel wells and eventually into the entire chassis of the vehicle. I think it looks pretty hot, twisted, and clean-cut, all at the same time.

Now that you have some idea of how Mr. Kim did things, let's dive into the rest of this machine. I want to first direct your attention to the interior as a whole. Did you notice how the driver's seat is integrated directly into the remainder of that cocoon? All one has to do is take a seat, and the car does the rest, including bringing the pedals closer to your feet.

There's an aspect we can also look at, the pedals. In one of the diagrams that Mr. Kim provides, we can see minimalist pedals integrated into the floor that showcase nothing but a "+" and a "-" sign, telling you what you'll be doing to your speed; either speeding up or slowing down. It's simple, really. Initially, I thought this feature was used to change gears, similar to paddle shifters, just for your feet. Hey, we're human; we're all still learning.

As for the X as a car, it looks like one aerodynamic marvel, with a shape resembling modern supercars; even a bit of Roborace inspiration seems to be showing. Best of all, the future is electric, and this Benz shows off a charge port at the rear.

Again, the X is nothing more than a concept, an idea, an expression of how things could be. Sure, it may be challenging to pull off an interior similar to this one and with the same dynamics, but that's why it's a concept; take what you like from it.