Mercedes Future Truck 2025 Envisions Self-Driving Big Rigs

Called the Future Truck 2025, the concept big-rig is being showcased this week at the International Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover, Germany. It looks as slick as a truck could be, with smooth surfaces and LED lighting that disappears when parked, illuminates white under way and changes to blue when operating in autonomous mode.

And that, boys and girls, is what the FT2025 is all about: autonomous driving. An array of radar sensors (in addition to the latest blind-spot system) scan the road and traffic around the truck to move down the highway free and easy and clear of other vehicles. That allows the driver – overworked and under-rested as they often are – to sit back and relax while the truck does the driving down the freeway.

All the while the driver gets to make the most of the interior space that looks as first-class as you could ever ask of a tractor trailer, with swiveling driver's seat, reclining passenger seat, numerous display screens, a Samsung tablet in the center console, a swoopy dashboard, curved wood flooring and ambient lighting.

The autonomous driving tech isn't just theoretical, either, as Daimler has actually tested the self-driving prototype at speeds of up to 80 km per hour down the Autobahn.