German legacy automaker Mercedes-Benz has officially secured the necessary approval for its Level 3 autonomous driving tech, “Drive Pilot,” in California and Nevada, US.
Mercedes confirmed plans to formally release Drive Pilot in the US market as early as the fourth quarter of the year.
“Drive Pilot is the world’s first and only system for conditionally automated driving with internationally valid type approval.”
Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes‑Benz Group AG and Chief Technology Officer
What is level 3 autonomous driving?
Electrek explained that autonomous driving technologies follow a 0-5 ranking scale, defining the system’s self-driving abilities.
Levels 0-2 basically require human drivers, while levels 3-5 can drive autonomously without much human intervention.
Remarkably, Mercedes is the first automaker to offer a level 3 system in the US, unlike most companies in the country with only a level 2 system.
Simply put, the approval allows Mercedes’ Drive Pilot to take “full control” of the car in particular instances. It allows drivers to do other things behind the wheel.
Mercedes’ Drive Pilot
The Drive Pilot has already been available in Germany for around a year without recording any accidents, Mercedes claims.
It employs a wide range of sensors and redundancies such as “vision, radar, lidar, GPS, ultrasonic, and acoustic recognition of its environment,” as noted by Electrek.
However, it remains under “conditional automation.” Therefore, drivers can only activate the system within the Operational Design Domain or hefty traffic below 40 miles per hour.
There must also be a lead car, ideal weather, and road conditions. The roads must also have an available high-resolution map for the Drive Pilot to function.
The system may also request that the driver place their hands on the wheel at any time. They will get 10 seconds to perform the system’s request. Failure to comply will result in an emergency stop.
Price and availability
Mercedes will offer the Drive Pilot on its popular gas-powered EQS and S-Class models in Q4 2023.
Customers must buy a model compatible with level 3 autonomous driving technology. The system will have a subscription fee of $2,500 for the initial year. Mercedes has yet to decide on the prices for the following years of subscription.
See Also:
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Mercedes aims to initially launch the Drive Pilot in LA, San Francisco and the Bay Area, Sacramento, San Diego, Las Vegas, and the freeways between these big cities. The company will soon release a map showing the system’s US coverage.
Mercedes aims to expand the Drive Pilot’s availability further with ongoing negotiations with state and federal officials.
