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The Mercedes-Benz Bionic is a
Mercedes' fish-inspired car
CNN (retrieved 2008-08-12) for comparison, the production vehicle with the lowest ever Cd value was the GM EV1, at 0.195. While the Bionic had a much larger internal volume than the EV1, the Bionic's larger frontal area made the EV1 more aerodynamic overall, as drag is a product of the area and the drag coefficient. The vehicle was capable of seating four people.
The Mercedes-Benz Bionic is a concept car
A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle or show vehicle) is a car made to showcase new styling or new technology. Concept cars are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not ...
created by DaimlerChrysler AG
Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a Germany, German Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is o ...
under the Mercedes Group. It was first introduced in 2005 at the DaimlerChrysler Innovation Symposium in Washington, D. C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
The Bionic is modeled after the yellow boxfish
The yellow boxfish (''Ostracion cubicum'') is a species of Marine life, marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Ostraciidae, the boxfishes. This species is found in reefs throughout the Pacific Ocean and I ...
, ''Ostracion cubicus'', and has 80% lower nitrogen oxide
Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds:
Charge-neutral
*Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide
* Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide
* Nitrogen trioxide (), o ...
emissions with its selective catalytic reduction
Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) means converting nitrogen oxides, also referred to as with the aid of a catalyst into diatomic nitrogen (), and water (). A reductant, typically anhydrous ammonia (), aqueous ammonia (), or a urea () soluti ...
technology.
Engine and performance
The Bionic is powered by a 103 kW direct-injectiondiesel engine
The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...
with an average fuel economy of 54.7 MPG (US) (~4.3 L/100 km). This engine also outputs around and a little over of torque at around 1,600 rpm. The Bionic can go from in about eight seconds and has a top speed of a little over .
Design
The exterior design was modeled after the yellow boxfish (''Ostracion cubicus
The yellow boxfish (''Ostracion cubicum'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ostraciidae, the boxfishes. This species is found in reefs throughout the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean as well as the southeastern Atlan ...
''), a marine fish that lives in coral reefs. Mercedes-Benz decided to model the Bionic after this fish due to the supposed low coefficient of drag of its body shape and the rigidity of its exoskeleton
An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the internal organs, in contrast to an internal endoskeleton (e.g. human skeleton, that ...
; this influenced the car's unusual looks. It was believed that the shape of the boxfish would improve aerodynamics and stability. However, in 2015, a paper in ''Journal of the Royal Society Interface
The ''Journal of the Royal Society Interface'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the interface between the life sciences and the physical sciences, including chemistry, engineering, materials science, mathematics, and physics. ...
'' claimed that "The drag-reduction performance of the two boxfish species studied was relatively low compared with more generalized body shapes of fish". Other parts of the design include the fact that the rear wheels are partially fitted with plastic and that it's considered as a lightweight vehicle. Mercedes-Benz reported a drag coefficient of 0.19;CNN (retrieved 2008-08-12) for comparison, the production vehicle with the lowest ever Cd value was the GM EV1, at 0.195. While the Bionic had a much larger internal volume than the EV1, the Bionic's larger frontal area made the EV1 more aerodynamic overall, as drag is a product of the area and the drag coefficient. The vehicle was capable of seating four people.
References
External links
* {{Mercedes-BenzBionic
Bionics or biologically inspired engineering is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology.
The word ''bionic'', coined by Jack E. Steele in August 19 ...
Cars introduced in 2005
Bionics