Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, January 8 (Xinhua)-- Mercedes-Benz said today that it has received approval from US regulators to deploy a Drive Pilot system (L3-level autopilot) in Nevada to allow hands to drive off the wheel under certain conditions, making Mercedes-Benz the first car company to obtain regulatory approval from the technology in the United States.

Mercedes-Benz announced the news on CES today, and the self-driving feature will be used in Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars and all-electric EQS models. According to the International Institute of Automotive Engineers, L3 autopilot allows vehicles to drive themselves under limited conditions, drivers can take their eyes off the road, and people sitting in the driver's seat are not considered to be "driving."

However, Mercedes' Drive Pilot system only works at speeds of no more than 40 miles (64 kilometers) per hour. This means that this feature will be used mainly in traffic jams. Although this is not fully autopilot, it at least means that drivers can take their attention off the road during commuting and respond to text messages or emails.

However, people in the driver's seat cannot fall asleep because the car may ask them to take over control at any time. If the driver does not respond to the vehicle within 10 seconds, the car will stop in an emergency.

Although some companies have begun to operate fully self-driving vehicles in places such as San Francisco, those vehicles are used as Robotaxi (self-driving taxis), while Mercedes' Drive Pilot is aimed at ordinary consumer vehicles.

Although it is new in the US, the carmaker already offers Drive Pilot in Europe. In fact, as early as December 2021, Mercedes-Benz was approved by the German Federal Transport Authority and became the first car company in the world to legally use the L3-level autopilot system in Germany. In May 2022, Mercedes-Benz announced that the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Mercedes-Benz EQS models sold in Germany will be equipped with the Drive Pilot system (L3-class autopilot system) at a cost of 5000 euros (36380 yuan) and 7430 euros (54060 yuan), respectively. In Germany, when the car owner starts L3 autopilot assistance, if there is a traffic accident, then the responsibility lies with the car factory.

The Drive Pilot system can provide road data for on-board computers through radar, lidar, cameras, ultrasonic waves and humidity sensors. The system can control vehicle speed, brake and lane position.

CTOnews.com learned that after Nevada, Mercedes aims to seek similar approval in California. In addition, in addition to Drive Pilot, Mercedes said that its automatic lane-changing function will also be launched in North America this year.

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