ALBAWABA - As he welcomes pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis, who has frequently advocated for international action on climate change according to AFP, will ride in an electric popemobile that German carmaker Mercedes-Benz brought to the Vatican on Wednesday.
Keeping with conventional papal aesthetics, the new popemobile has a pearl-white finish and is based on the Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV. Important upgrades include a grasp bar for increased stability while standing and a heated, raised seat that provides improved sight during public appearances, Reuters reports.
Additionally, the electric motor is tuned for low-speed operation, making it suitable for maneuvering around crowds while keeping an environmentally responsible stance.
Ola Källenius, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz, called the endeavor a “special honor” for the firm, while speaking to Reuters, when he personally delivered the car to Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday. Adding that in order to satisfy the Vatican's rigorous requirements, the custom popemobile required hundreds of hours of meticulous work to design.
The Pope previously urged international cooperation in preserving the world in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si, a demand he has since reaffirmed, AFP reports. by implementing the electric popemobile, the Vatican intends to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability and climate action.
Since 1930, when Mercedes-Benz produced the Nurburg 460 Pullman for Pope Pius XI, marking the beginning of a long and illustrious history of the company's production of automobiles for the Holy See, according to CBS News.
Over the course of many decades, the company has produced a number of vehicles that have become synonymous with prestige, such as the 600 Pullman Landaulet and several variants of the G-Class. During the reigns of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, the Mercedes-Benz M-Class was used to serve as popemobile.
Although this is the first popemobile that is completely electric, the Vatican has previously experimented with electric cars. Pope Francis has sometimes traveled abroad in electric vehicles. Yet the new popemobile signifies a more official turn in papal transit toward environmentally friendly technology.
The Vatican has not disclosed the vehicle's security features or the time of its formal launch.
