Mercedes Level 3 autonomous cars sold in the US and other markets are going to be able to hit a higher speed without driver intervention. According to the German automaker, the top speed its Drive Pilot system will support has been increased to 95 km/h (that’s about 59 mph).
The next generation of Mercedes with an SAE Level 3 system will first roll out in the German market with the new model year. But those who already have a vehicle with Drive Pilot will receive the update free of charge.
In the US, the number of Mercedes using this technology is relatively few, numbering in the dozens. The tech is only available on certain S-Class and EQS Sedan models, making them price prohibitive. Still, not everyone is going to be comfortable knowing there are robot cars driving around without a human guiding them at freeway speeds.
Autonomous driving technologies have been under intense scrutiny lately after years of bold declarations about how they’d end the need for human drivers. The ones which have been in the news the most is Tesla’s Auto Pilot and Full Self Driving, but Ford’s Blue Cruise is currently under federal investigation as well.
Plus, the robotaxis used in cities like San Francisco, Phoenix, and Houston have suffered incidents which don’t appear to be the fault of other drivers or pedestrians, the usual defense rolled out whenever a self-driving vehicle is involved in an accident.
So far Merecedes has escaped such scrutinization since there haven’t been incidents reported with the few Level 3 cars it has on American roads or even elsewhere. We’ll see if this new speed limit increase along with additional units sold to the public will trigger a change.
As is the case with some other autonomous vehicles, Mercedes AVs feature turquoise lights which illuminate once Drive Pilot is activated. So, if you see a Mercedes with those lights shining it means a robot, not a human, is managing the driving.
Image via Mercedes-Benz
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