Premiered on 15 June 2009, at the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) Conference in Stuttgart, the ESF 2009 is the first Experimental Safety Vehicle to be built by Mercedes-Benz since 1974. Like its historic predecessors, it illustrates innovations in the field of safety.

These ideas include inflatable metallic sections which give more stability to structural components within fractions of a second, as well as the so-called "Braking Bag".

This airbag housed within the vehicle floor is deployed when a crash is deemed to be unavoidable, and uses a friction coating to support the vehicle against the road surface.

The ESF 2009 was developed and built completely in the test vehicle workshops in Sindelfingen.

This safety research vehicle based on the Mercedes S 400 HYBRID features more than a dozen safety innovations, most of which are fully functioning in demonstration mode.

The following five innovations on the basis of the S 400 Hybrid are among the highlights of the ESF 2009:

• PRE-SAFE Structure: The inflatable metal structures save weight or increase the stability of structural components. When at rest, the metal section is in a folded state to save space.
  If its protective effect is required, a gas generator builds up an internal pressure of 10 to 20 bar within fractions of a second, causing the section to unfold for significantly more stability.
• Braking Bag: This auxiliary brake accommodated in the vehicle floor is a new type of PRE-SAFE® component.
  If the sensor system concludes that an impact is unavoidable, the Braking Bag is deployed shortly before the crash and stabilises the car on the road surface by means of a friction coating.
  The vehicle's vertical acceleration increases the friction, and helps to decelerate the vehicle before the impact occurs.
• Interactive Vehicle Communication: The ESF 2009 is able to communicate directly with other vehicles, or via relay stations. Using "ad hoc" networks and WLAN radio technology, it is e.g. able to receive and transmit warnings of bad weather or obstacles in the road.
• PRE-SAFE Pulse: This further development of PRE-SAFE® is able to reduce the forces acting on the torsos of the occupants during a lateral collision by around one third.
  It does this by moving them towards the centre of the vehicle by up to 50 millimetres as a precautionary measure. As an active restraint system, it uses the air chambers in the side bolsters of the seat backrests.
• Spotlight lighting function: This partial LED main beam specifically illuminates potential hazards.
  If the infrared camera of Night View Assist PLUS e.g. detects deer at the roadside or pedestrians on the road, these can be briefly illuminated beyond the normal area covered by the main beams, as if by a spotlight.

Mercedes-Benz is also presenting an innovative PRE-SAFE Demonstrator at the 21st ESV Conference. For the first time this simulator uses a linear motor for this purpose, in order to accelerate the vehicle cabin to up to 16 km/h within a distance of four metres before the impact occurs.

The linear drive system, which is similar to that used by the Transrapid train, is freely programmable and also works in the opposite direction. This enables various acceleration profiles and also a rear-end collision to be demonstrated. The special feature of this system is that the 'vehicle occupants' experience the effect of the PRE-SAFE® functions live, e.g. belt pretensioning, NECK-PRO and the inflatable side bolsters of the seats.

About the Mercedes-Benz ESFs

For the ESV Safety Conferences held in 1971 to 1975, Mercedes-Benz built more than 30 experimental vehicles and subjected them to crash tests to satisfy the visionary safety requirements of that time.

Four of these ESFs (Experimental Safety Vehicles) were presented to the public, and many of the revolutionary ideas such as ABS or the airbag first entered series production at Mercedes-Benz.

Mercedes-Benz ESF 2009 - Official video presentation

(Source: Mercedes-Benz)