Mercedes-Benz is bringing Level 3 self-driving cars to the US, becoming the first automaker to do so.
While Tesla calls its driver-assistance system “full self-driving” and CEO Elon Musk has promised but failed to deliver Level 4 or Level 5 autonomy, it was actually Mercedes-Benz that officially achieved the feat of having a Level 3 car on U.S. roads.
See also: Tesla cuts price of FSD, drops Enhanced Autopilot
The “Level” numbers refer to SAE International’s driving automation levels: Level 2 and below refer to various driver support features that can perform certain functions such as steering, accelerating, and braking, but the driver must constantly monitor them and intervene if necessary.
Levels 3, 4, and 5 refer to full automation, but the differences between them are significant. A vehicle with level 3 automation can drive itself, but may require the driver to take over. This only works under limited conditions and will not kick in unless all necessary conditions are met. Levels 4 and 5 ideally do not require the driver to take over. The difference is that level 4 can also work under certain limited conditions, while level 5 allows the car to drive itself in all situations.
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…If all conditions are met, the car will not complain when the driver takes their eyes off the road and their hands off the wheel.
Mercedes-Benz’s Level 3 is available through a feature set called Drive Pilot, and it only works in clear weather, during daylight hours, on certain highways in California and Nevada, and when the car is traveling below 40 mph. Finally, it’s only available on Mercedes’ EQS and S-Class sedans. All of this might not sound all that exciting, but what makes this different from other similar systems is that if all conditions are met, the driver can take their eyes off the road and let go of the wheel without the car having to nag. Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD systems officially fall into the Level 2 category, as they require the driver to react and take over in all scenarios.
Mercedes-Benz unveiled the system last September and began selling Level 3-capable vehicles in the US in December (the company previously rolled out the system in Germany), and as Fortune points out, at least one car is currently on sale to a customer in California.
Mercedes isn’t alone in this effort, but it is the first in the U.S. Last year, BMW said it would launch Level 3 vehicles in Germany in March 2024.
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Musk recently announced a “robo-taxi” event planned for August 2024. The Tesla CEO continues to bet on the dream of cars that can ferry passengers autonomously, i.e. robotaxis, despite not being able to perfect the FSD system enough to make it fully autonomous. Such cars exist. Alphabet’s Waymo and GM’s Cruise, for example, offer self-driving taxi services in San Francisco, with mixed results. But Musk seems keen to sell such cars to customers. To do so, he’ll first have to leapfrog Mercedes’ latest effort. Notably, Mercedes CTO Markus Schäfer believes that privately owned Level 4 cars could be a reality “as soon as 10 years from now.”
Topics Self-driving cars Automobiles
