• “DRIVE PILOT” receives certification in the US state of California
• First company “licensed to operate SAE Level 3 production vehicles on California freeways”
• California important market for Tesla
As announced by Mercedes-Benz on June 9, the automaker has received certification for its “DRIVE PILOT” in the US state of California after the US state of Nevada had already confirmed in January of this year that the system conformed to local regulations. In the USA, certifications are issued separately in each state.
This makes Mercedes-Benz the world’s first “automotive company licensed to operate SAE Level 3 production vehicles on freeways in California,” according to the car manufacturer’s press release. “Mercedes-Benz DRIVE PILOT is the world’s only SAE Level 3 system with internationally valid approval. DRIVE PILOT uses a highly developed system architecture based on redundancy, which enables comfortable and safe highly automated driving through a large number of sensors. The certification by the authorities in California and Nevada once again confirms that redundancy is the safe and only right approach,” Markus Schäfer is quoted as saying. He is a member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Chief Technology Officer responsible for Development and Purchasing.
According to the company, the “DRIVE PILOT” will be available on the US market as optional equipment for both the S-Class and EQS models in the 2024 model year. The first vehicles are expected to be delivered to customers as early as the end of 2023.
SAE Level 3: Highly automated driving
The system architecture of the “DRIVE PILOT” includes, among other things, LiDAR, microphones, a camera in the rear window, a wet sensor in the wheel housing, redundant steering and braking systems and a redundant on-board network. This is to ensure that the vehicle “remains manoeuvrable even in the unlikely event of a malfunction and that DRIVE PILOT can ensure safe handover to the driver,” says the press release. In the event that the driver is unable to take over, the system initiates an “emergency stop promptly after ten seconds” and switches on the hazard warning lights. When the vehicle is stationary, the Mercedes‑Benz emergency call system is also activated and the doors are unlocked.
The activated “DRIVE PILOT” enables the driver to turn away “from the task of driving” and pursue certain secondary activities – which of these are legally permissible depend on the national road traffic regulations – as well as “in heavy traffic or traffic jams on suitable sections of the motorway in Germany (up to 60 km/h) or freeway sections in the USA (up to 40 mph) to transfer the driving task to the system under certain conditions,” explains Mercedes-Benz. Nevertheless, the company points out that “DRIVE PILOT” only takes over certain driving tasks and that it is still necessary for the driver to be ready at any time to take control of the vehicle again, should the system prompt him to do so.
The system uses two buttons on the steering wheel rim to indicate the availability of “DRIVE PILOT” if the requirements are met. When “DRIVE PILOT” is activated, the system regulates the speed, the distance to vehicles in front, keeps the vehicle in lane and takes “the route, events on the route and traffic signs” into account. In addition, the system reacts “to unexpected traffic situations and manages them independently”.
Mercedes-Benz overtakes Tesla
With its “DRIVE PILOT”, which allows SAE Level 3, i.e. highly automated driving, the German car manufacturer is also overtaking its US rival Tesla, whose vehicles, despite the “Full Self-Driving” system, are “not autonomous” according to their own statements and ” require active driver monitoring”. In the past, the e-car manufacturer, which, for example, does not use LiDAR sensors in its vehicles and has so far only relied on cameras, has often been criticized.
California is also an important market for Tesla. According to Reuters calculations, Tesla’s sales in California – the largest US market for zero-emission vehicles – accounted for 16 percent of the company’s global deliveries last year. The news agency’s calculations, based on data from the California Energy Commission, also revealed that Tesla controlled 59.6 percent of the battery electric market in California from January to March this year. This corresponds to a decrease compared to 72.7 percent in 2022 as a whole and means the lowest value since 2017.
Mercedes-Benz also sees itself as a leader when it comes to highly automated driving: “The certification by the authorities in California once again confirms our leadership in the field of highly automated driving and shows that we are the driving force behind innovations in the USA. DRIVE PILOT is a prime example of our ambition to set new standards in the area of road safety and new technologies and thus offer our customers maximum comfort,” says Dimitris Psillakis, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA.
In Germany, Mercedes-Benz wants to make highly automated driving up to 130 km/h possible on the autobahn by the end of this decade – in a kind of intermediate stage, a speed of up to approx. 90 km/h should be reached.
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