The Ener-G-Force is Mercedes’ design proposal for this year’s L.A. Auto show Design Challenge. The theme for that event is the ultimate law enforcement vehicle for year 2025, but for Mercedes it goes beyond that. The Ener-G is in fact what the current Mercedes G-Class would look like in 2025.

Of course nobody would ever agree to altering the looks of the G-Wagen, it’s a legend. But we have to say this G-thing here is quite appealing. Granted, it looks a bit childish, what with those massive wheels, green lights, and especially those air vents in the roof, but then as a design study it has to be a little crazy. This is what’s possible when there are no rules to follow.

You can clearly notice some of the G-Class design cues in this car. The front indicators and position lights mounted on top of the wings for example are G-Class element. And the headlights, well, those are clearly saying ‘G’. The front grille is another clue. The rest of it though is caricaturized and exaggerated. It is, after all, a show car.

The car also comes with some imaginary, but undeniably cool, technology features. It’s a fuel cell vehicle, which means it emits nothing but water. It has an operating range of about 800 kilometres and four wheel-hub motors. See those side skirts? They contain either the energy storage units or hot-swappable battery pack. The car also has a “Terra-Scan” 360-degree topography scanner on the roof permanently scans the surroundings and uses the results to adjust the spring and damping rates. It is literary unreal!

Gorden Wagener, Director of Design at Mercedes-Benz Cars: “The Ener-G-Force is the vision of an off-roader that, while reflecting tomorrow’s adventures, also invokes the genes of the Mercedes-Benz off-road icon, the G model. Modern and cool, it could also be a clue about a new beginning for the off-road design idiom of Mercedes-Benz.”