During this year’s Open Championship, Mercedes-Benz presented the "Mercedes-Benz Vision Golf Cart". Hundreds of golf as well as automobile fans took part in an international competition by submitting their ideas for a golf cart of the future. This invaluable input provided the basis for a visionary golf cart design study created by the Mercedes-Benz design department.
Earlier this year, Mercedes-Benz called upon golf and automobile fans from around the world to submit their ideas for a Mercedes-Benz golf cart of the future. So began the search to find the best, most unusual, most innovative and most promising concepts. A jury chaired by Gorden Wagener then selected the best entries from among all the submissions. The winners received an exclusive invitation as VIP guests to the Open Championship.
The Mercedes-Benz Vision Golf Cart is electric driven, powered by a battery that is kept continuously charged by a solar module integrated into the roof. Manual charging, as for a conventional golf cart, is also possible. The vehicle is controlled in innovative and intuitive fashion via a joystick mounted on the centre console, so making it possible for either passenger to drive the golf cart.
The centre console also incorporates a multimedia panel that includes a rotatable docking station for an iPad or iPhone and a USB interface. Various functions that are available in the golf cart can be controlled from here, for example vehicle functions such as loudspeakers or the air-conditioning system, the head-up display, the music system or communication with the clubhouse and other golf carts.
If so required the head-up display integrated into the windscreen can also be used, when the golf cart is stationary, to show the course layout, the current status of the game or weather information. The digital speedometer is placed beneath the windscreen. One wish that came up time and time again, irrespective of country or language, was the possibility of being able to use a telephone. The cart thus also features Bluetooth, so allowing telephone calls to be made via the loudspeaker system while on the move.
In addition to its use on the golf course, the golf cart is also able to run on normal roads. The designers have, for example, also included all the vital features such as indicators, headlamps and tail lights. Thanks to the LED headlamps, play can also continue when the light starts to fail, as they include a floodlight function.
