The futuristic Lincoln Model L100 Concept EV

Ford’s Lincoln luxury brand intends to celebrate the 100 years of life with the Model L100 Concept, named after the 1922 Model L.

Lincoln was never particularly known for radical automotive designs, but the Model L100 Concept turns the page and shows that the brand is thinking about a radically different type of luxury car for the future.

The Lincoln Model L100 Concept, unveiled at Monterey Car Week last week, can switch between driver-centric and social seat configurations, although a “jewelry-inspired chess piece controller” replaces the traditional steering wheel, as autonomous driving has priority.

Who is driving? The people inside can do something else

It uses a combination of metallic paint and satin acrylic instead of chrome, with a “satin digital ceramic tricoat” to go from a soft, warm white to a cool blue. The wheel covers contain sensors and communicate about battery life. The interior is free of animal materials and the “digital floor” can help improve the occupants’ mood.

Perhaps most notably, the Model L100 Concept opens like a flower – or comes out of its shell, with side doors and a hinged roof at the rear of the vehicle. They all open up to welcome, as part of a so-called Lincoln Embrace, perhaps in a future world with all the space and cars parked far away where door knocks are impossible.

Lincoln hasn’t provided any technical details, not even dimensions, but says the Model L100 Concept uses “Next generation battery cells and pack technologies, which will provide revolutionary energy density and enable efficient structural integration by treating the entire vehicle as one system.” The car appears to be very low, which could simply be a result of its length and gigantic wheels.

So far, Lincoln has approached electric vehicles with caution. His first two electric vehicles, one of which a project with Rivian and the other an “elegant” electric vehicle based on the Mach-E, have both been canceled. The brand’s first plug-in model, the Aviator Grand Touring plug-in hybrid, is more of a niche high-performance version, and was followed by the Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring PHEV more widely available. The brand is reportedly now planning a full line of electric SUVs.

Before you brand this as a simple exercise for designers, keep in mind that, far-fetched technology aside, this is how a brand verifies (and refines) where its style is headed in the future. The styling of the front looks a bit like that of the Lincoln Star electric SUV concept shown earlier this year and the creative methods of opening the door / roof / fruck are something that has been seen there as well.

Source: Green Car Reports