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Mercedes-Benz announced Wednesday that its Drive Pilot Level 3 autonomous driving system will be offered to U.S. motorists in late 2023, making it the first automaker to offer a true automated driving vehicle in the United States. Drive Pilot will be offered on a limited number of EQS sedans in California and Nevada. In early 2024, Mercedes-Benz plans to expand the option to S-Class models as well through participating authorized Mercedes-Benz dealers in those two states. Level 3 autonomous driving is not legally allowed in other states.
Prices start at $2,500, with other pricing options to be announced at a later date.
While more advanced systems have been approved for ride-sharing services such as Waymo and Cruise, Drive Pilot’s approval gives Mercedes-Benz an advantage against Tesla, which implies its vehicles are Level 3 self-driving, when they’re not.
“It is engineered with a sophisticated system architecture based on redundancy with many different sensor types. I strongly believe that redundancy is key for safe automated driving for Level 3 and beyond,” said Markus Schäfer, Mercedes‑Benz Group’s Chief Technology Officer. “Responsible handling of this technology is our top priority and the key to acceptance among customers.”
Drive Pilot operates under what the Society of Automotive Engineers certifies as Level 3 capability, also known as conditional autonomy. It allows the car to do the driving only under certain conditions. While a motorist can turn their attention to other things, they must be ready to immediately take over driving when the vehicle requests it. In the case of Drive Pilot, it’s limited to use at speeds up to 40 mph and uses LiDAR, a camera in the rear window, microphones for detecting emergency vehicles, and a road wetness sensor to guide its driving. There’s also redundant steering and braking actuators as well as a redundant on-board electrical system in case one of these systems fails.
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