Mercedes-Benz wants to make the S-Class 2020 partially autonomous

Mercedes-Benz plans to launch its own semi-autonomous system on the new S-Class sedan, scheduled in the 2020 range, according to a Automotive News interview with the research manager of the company. The system will offer what the Society of Automotive Engineers calls "Level 3" autonomy, which means that the car can drive itself in certain situations without driver intervention, with the warning that the driver must be ready to take over in case of an emergency situation.

This type of driving assistance would be comparable to what Audi has integrated in the A8 2019. The Audi system, called Traffic Jam Pilot, manages starts, stops, turns, and so on. while allowing the driver to leave the road eyes. That would be a step ahead of other current Level 2 systems, such as the Tesla Autopilot or the GM Super Cruise. (However, Tesla promised that the autopilot would soon become more robust after the company's latest software update.) And this would mark a considerable leap forward from Mercedes-Benz's existing driving assistance package. Benz, Drive Pilot, which has received valuable assistance. favorable reviews.

Like Audi's Level 3 system, Mercedes-Benz could end up with a product that only works in certain places. Regulations for driver assistance features such as Traffic Jam Pilot may vary from country to country and even from state to state. Audi, for example, has decided not to want to deal with the disparate regulatory framework of the United States and has opted for a Traffic Jam Pilot patella on its cars in Canada.

There is also growing concern about whether level 3 technology is a good idea. The major concern is that if a car is smart enough to drive in almost any environment, it could create a false sense of security that could endanger the human driver in an emergency. Google abandoned its quest for a system allowing the computer and the driver to fully control the car for that very reason, after finding that human drivers were easily distracted while the computer was driving. Toyota has expressed similar concerns, and Ford is essentially following a two-way path to autonomy, with a level 2 system for its mainstream cars and level 4 technology – fully autonomous driving in designated areas – arrival to a home support service in 2021.