Since May 17, Mercedes-Benz has been offering its customers a world exclusive. Against a supplement of 5,000 to 7,430 euros on the already substantial price of his two Class S and EQS limousines (from 103,850 to 235,700 euros, excluding options), their driver gains the astonishing ability to follow the flow of traffic without having to to hold the steering wheel, or operate the pedals, or look at the road. “The Drive Pilot system offers our customers the greatest of luxuries: a little free time,” says Markus Schäfer, development manager at Mercedes-Benz.
No other car allows its driver to check his mail or shop online on the on-board touch screen without fear of hitting an obstacle. A significant privilege that even the most advanced Tesla cannot match. Inevitably, since it intimates the order to its driver to have his hands on the steering wheel if he lets go for a few seconds. Indeed, as famous as it is, its Autopilot system sticks to level 2 autonomy, when the Mercedes-Benz Drive Pilot is the first level 3 semi-autonomous driving system approved in Europe. The fifth and final level representing the ultimate delegation.
A limit of 60 km/h
Even in the choice of the name of its system, Mercedes is careful not to suggest that its cars are autonomous, unlike the firm of Elon Musk. In accordance with the recommendations of the National Pilot Committee for Digital Ethics, the manufacturer speaks only of “conditional automated driving”. As proof, the Drive Pilot only accepts responsibility for careful driving at less than 60 km/h, exclusively on the 13,191 kilometers of the German motorway network. So, in case of traffic jam. Everywhere else, the assistance drops to level 2, that is to say “hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road”.
This brings the two prestigious Mercedes “on par with cars as financially affordable as the Renault Clio”, argues a representative of the French manufacturer. Having reached the same level of improvement, his compatriots Peugeot and Citroën promise for 2024 a level 3 autonomy, developed in partnership with the German BMW.
Preferring to err on the side of caution rather than confidence, the Mercedes Drive Pilot demands that the driver regain control when a condition is no longer met – for example, when the marking on the roadway is illegible. Constantly placed under the watchful eye of a camera trained on his face, the driver has only ten seconds to react: “After this time, the vehicle pulls over on its own initiative on the side and calls for help” , says Markus Schäfer. No question of letting the machine do anything.
This wisdom has earned the German manufacturer the first in the world to meet the requirements of the United Nations regulation on automated lane keeping systems (UN-R157), amended in the summer of 2020 to authorize level 3. signatory to this regulation, France has not yet transposed it into national law. Faster, Germany was therefore the first State to grant Mercedes the authorization to market its Drive Pilot. To the chagrin of rival Audi, whose A8 limousine presented itself in 2017 as the first car in the world with level 3 autonomy. Alas! While the technology was ready, the regulations were not.
Strong competition
Behind Mercedes-Benz’s success lies the know-how of French industry: the Drive Pilot would be blind without Valeo’s Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) detection system, the first generation of which fitted the Audi A8. The French equipment manufacturer is the largest supplier, with 200,000 of these sensors produced to date. In 2022, he hopes to generate some 3.2 billion euros in revenue from the sale of these electronic components essential for semi-autonomous driving. Competition is fierce, however: Lidars from Bosch, Continental, Velodyne, Cepton, Innoviz and Luminar are constantly gaining in resolution and range, for a cost price that is decreasing as production rates increase. Valeo estimates that “30% of premium vehicles will offer level 3 driving aids in 2030”.
Against all expectations, Tesla is the only manufacturer to deprive itself of the advantages of a Lidar which sees further and detects obstacles earlier than radars and cameras. By emitting laser beams, the Lidar draws a very precise three-dimensional map of the road. Insensitive to dazzling by headlights, to the play of shadows and to variations in texture, it fears only very heavy rainfall. However, Elon Musk persists in calling it a “crutch” and a “dead end”. The snub that Mercedes-Benz has just inflicted on him will perhaps make him change his mind. Especially since the German has good hopes of obtaining authorization before the end of the year to market its Drive Pilot system in the United States.