Like its luxury counterparts that made a significant electric push at the beginning of the decade, Mercedes-Benz is reexamining its roots as it charts a new zero-emissions route. Well-heeled buyers and riders of the flagship S-Class sedan didn’t bring its EV counterpart, the EQS, as planned, so the German automaker is extending the life of the gas and hybrid luxury sedan by doing what it’s done for decades: making it more technologically advanced.

Because people in the S-Class are more likely to worry about how the car feels when driven than how it drives. That’s not to say that Mercedes hasn’t appealed to people who want to drive big sedans with six-figure price tags for years, but the S-Class has been a fixture in big financial venues in big cities like New York, London, Tokyo, and Dubai, to name just a few. And the people in the back seat demand absolute comfort—or else.

There’s a lot of technology talk in Mercedes’ description of the 2027 S-Class lineup, but the most eye-catching is the use of artificial intelligence and V2X capabilities to control suspension damping and vehicle control on different roads.

The new “Intelligent Damping” uses the radar and cameras already used for other driver assistance functions to scan the road in front of the vehicle to prepare for road imperfections such as broken pavement or potholes, setting up the adaptive air suspension or optional E-BODY ACTIVE CONTROL (emphasis Mercedes’) to stiffen or relax the dampening and compensate for the impact of the people inside. The information gathered from certain roads and conditions is stored in the Mercedes Information Cloud, which will save it for familiar routes so that it does not have to study again the current bumps and breaks in the road. Car-to-X information can also be sent to other Mercedes vehicles that have the same technology and travel on the same roads.

Mercedes has included Vehicle-to-Vehicle capabilities for about a decade as its models have been updated, but they have mostly been able to connect to other brand vehicles rather than other services from communication providers or local infrastructure. And automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, have been using a variety of technologies to smooth out road imperfections and keep passengers comfortable for decades, with varying degrees of success. For example, Ford uses its own camera-based system to find the holes about a decade now.

While the technology is new to the S-Class, it will likely appear in other company models over the next few years.

The latest S-Class will use Google Cloud Automotive AI services combined with built-in Google Maps through the MB.OS software that supports the car’s infotainment functions, as well as things like Gmail or Outlook, if you want to work in the car (yes, you can call Microsoft Teams in your Mercedes). MB.OS is also responsible for operating driver assistance systems.

Other comfort innovations that Mercedes insists are in the name of safety, too, include heated seatbelts for front seat occupants. Tied to the heated seat functions, the company says they intend to make people more comfortable removing thicker coats in cold weather while in the car and ensure that the seat belts work as intended for a person of their size.

Digital Vent Control joins the party of cars that insist you need to adjust the air vent electronically as if it’s better than doing it with your hands.

The 2027 S-Class will be offered with six- and eight-cylinder gasoline engines using a 48-volt electrical architecture, up to 530 horsepower, and with standard all-wheel drive. The more traffic-friendly S 580e plug-in hybrid version with 576 horsepower uses a six-cylinder gasoline engine paired with a 22-kWh battery pack and electric-only range to be announced. The new models should be available at US dealers in the second half of this year.

AI continues to dominate the functions of the car that drivers and passengers constantly interact with, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon. Currently, it plays a greater role in controlling and monitoring functions, adjusting parts of the car that are not always visible or touchable, but important for the safety and comfort of the people inside. It remains to be seen if this is a gimmick for a wealthy clientele or something people can expect to find in lower-priced vehicles in a few years.