It’s safe to say that Mercedes’ Concept IAA is THE concept vehicle of this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. It’s what concepts should be like: shocking, futuristic and filled with innovation.

As Mercedes-Benz puts it, the Concept IAA embodies two cars in one – a four-door coupé with a striking design and an aerodynamic world record breaker with a drag coefficient of 0.19.

Oh, and did we mention it changes shape while moving? At speeds in excess of 80 km/h, the study automatically switches from design mode to aerodynamic mode, which means it’s changing its form with a number of aerodynamic features.

Eight segments deploy at the rear end, extending it by up to 390mm (15.3in). At the front, the flaps in the front bumper extend outwards by 25mm (0.98in) and rearwards by 200mm (7.87in), improving airflow around the front end and the front wheel arches.

But that’s not all. The active wheel rims change their cupping from 50mm (1.97in) to zero, while the fin in the front bumper retracts by 60mm (2.36in) to improve flow along the underbody. All these “body movements” result in a very slippery shape.

Mercedes-Benz aerodynamics experts arrived at this shape by using numerical flow simulation during around one million CPU hours – that’s roughly equivalent to the work required to develop a production model.

The Concept IAA is not just about aerodynamics, though. It is equipped with a large number of sensors and modules that enable autonomous driving and car-to-X communication – which means it can communicate with other vehicles or other sources of information. Other innovations include the operating concept with touch-based functionalities in the interior.

The Mercedes concept car is powered by a petrol/electric plug-in hybrid drive with a total output of 279PS (275hp), which allows it to reach an electronically-limited top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph).

CO2 emissions and electric range depend on the mode in which the vehicle is driven: in aerodynamic mode the study manages an all-electric range of 66 km (41 miles) and emits 28 g CO2 per km. In design mode the range stands at 62 km (38 miles) and CO2 emissions at 31 g per km.

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