Page 36 - drive a2b FEB 2020 web

Mercedes Benz

AVTR

are-earth metals drive up the cost of Smartphone and other electronic makers have
electric-car production and take a larger toll considered graphene for batteries before, thanks to the
on environments when not responsibly or materials' supercapacitor-like charge and discharge
R legally mined. cycles that take seconds, and conductivity superior to
copper or silicon. Samsung announced in 2017 that
It's one of few blemishes on electric-vehicle production it would research the technology for its smartphones
since the 1990s that persist to today. and industry pundits say smartphones with graphene
batteries may appear as early as next year.
The Mercedes-Benz AVTR concept debuted last month
at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and it is Most experts agree that graphene is in its early stages
far-flung in most respects. of development—the material was only discovered 15
years ago—but the potential appears to be enormous for
Mercedes' envisions a biometric connection with the car
that can recognize breathing and heartbeats to identify electric cars in the future.
drivers. Even farther flung: The concept car has a palm- Clarification: Rare earth metals are more commonly
based menu system that lets drivers explore the fictional used in EV motors, not batteries. Mercedes' concept
world Pandora from the film "Avatar" in 3D. battery aims to create a graphene-based battery that is
compostable and recyclable.
Mercedes says the concept is powered by the
sustainable graphene batteries, which have been around
for a while.
36 DRIVE A2B magazine · February 2020