The 'bionic flaps' at the back of the Mercedes Vision Avtr can stand up, tilt in any direction or integrate into the chassis, and they include solar cells (Credit: Daimler)
When Avatar came out in 2009, it was hailed as a defining moment for new and improved stereoscopic 3D cinema.

Audiences watched in wonder as spectacular aliens swooped through the air, giant exoskeletons stomped the jungle floor and mountains floated in the sky, as if you could reach out and touch them.
This, clearly, was the technology of the future, and it was available today. But, 11 years later, that future has not been realised. Higher prices, persistent complaints about image quality and a lack of 3D-first blockbusters all discouraged viewers and prevented any permanent shift in our cinema experience.
Now, however, Avatar is back. The second and third instalments are scheduled for 2021 and 2023 respectively. With that announcement comes the Mercedes Vision Avtr.
Vision of the future
Standing for Advanced Vehicle Transformation – and for the collaboration with the film franchise – the Avtr “embodies the vision of Mercedes-Benz designers, engineers and trend researchers for mobility in the distant future,” says the carmaker.
The concept car certainly includes some far-out features. Although the designs do not include a steering wheel, accompanying announcements refer to the car’s ‘drivers’, and the vehicle would apparently interact with people inside through a ‘biometric connection’ via a central control unit.
Some aspects are more easily recognisable from today’s most advanced cars. The Avtr would reportedly have all-wheel drive with four near-wheel electric motors, with a theoretical combined engine power of more than 350kW. Not only would the car have intelligent and fully variable torque distribution, but the axles are designed for independent turning, either simultaneously or in opposite directions. Such a feature would enable what Mercedes calls “crab movement” from side to side.
One of the car’s most distinctive features is the array of 33 ‘bionic flaps’ on the back of the vehicle. The scale-like units can stand up, tilt in any direction or integrate into the chassis, and they include solar cells.
Mercedes claims the flaps could “communicate” with people around the car through subtle movements, but also suggests they could “change their orientation in unison in order to optimally support the vehicle during manoeuvres”. Perhaps the flaps could change angle to increase downforce around a corner, before levelling out on the straight? Maybe they could change from side to side to dynamically distribute load?
Of the ideas contained within the concept it is one of the most exciting – but also, potentially, one of the most achievable. The flaps already exist, and were built by Foldaway Haptics in Switzerland. Will we see flaps sprout from consumer cars in the near future?
Professor Peter Bearman, an expert in experimental aerodynamics at Imperial College London, does not have much confidence in the design. “This car has a shallow fastback angle which should keep the flow over the back attached,” he says. “The flaps will severely interfere with this flow and increase drag and generate excessive wind noise. Hence, I do not see any obvious advantage to the aerodynamic performance by having these flaps.”
Like the rest of the car, we are unlikely to see bionic flaps any time soon. But, as Avatar is keen to show, if you don’t cause a paradigm shift the first time around, just wait 11 years and try again – maybe it’s time to don the cheap plastic spectacles again.
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