LAS VEGAS—To Mercedes, the car of the future will give us something we all want, something you can't put a price tag on: more time and space.

In the future, the car will become the "third place" after your home and office; a place where you actually enjoy hanging out, somewhere you have the freedom to do whatever you please – sleep, work, catch up with friends.

The key to this vision, according to Mercedes, is autonomous driving. In a glitzy press conference at CES Monday night, the car maker showed off a brand new self-driving concept car, dubbed the F 015 "Luxury in Motion," which drove itself on stage, then wowed the audience with its flashing lights and futuristic features.

The four-seater sports fancy "saloon doors" and bright blue LED lights along the front grille, which can light up as a signal to pedestrians that it has "seen" you, and it's safe to pass. It can even display a mock-crosswalk on the street, and verbally tell you, in a very pleasing voice, to "please go ahead."

"The car of the future is really good looking, smart, polite, and helpful," Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said Monday.

On the inside, the concept car is just as spectacular. It has fewer buttons than your smartphone: zero. The windows can be used as screens that display emails, videoconferences, or whatever you please.

And since it's electric, it doesn't need a bulky engine or transmission technology, so there's more room inside to spread out. Another cool feature: a "free-floating" control unit, so that anyone in the car can become the driver, if they're so inclined. The seats also swivel all the way around, so everyone can face each other, just like in the days of horse-drawn carriages.

"Quality time and private space will be the true luxury goods in the future," Zetsche said. "And F 015 Luxury in Motion is the third place that offers you both."

But despite all the glitz and glamour, Zetsche acknowledged that there are still many questions to be answered when it comes to autonomous vehicles. For instance, how will car makers ensure customer data is safe? Who is responsible in the "unlikely" event of a crash? And, speaking of crashes, if one is unavoidable, how does the car deal with ethical dilemmas like whether it should to drive into a ditch or a wall, a young mother with a stroller or an older person? (For more on that, check out Who Should Be the Self-Driving Car's Moral Compass?)

"These are only some areas in need of discussions and solutions," he said. "For that reason, it is good that we are not alone in this race."

Zetsche said Mercedes has been working on self-driving cars for almost 30 years. In 2013, Mercedes completed a 62-mile test drive of an autonomous vehicle in Germany.

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