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Mercedes-Benz will introduce ‘Level 3’ autonomous driving in the US in the second half of this year. The German car manufacturer announced this last week A press release on his site.

The Germans call their driver assistance system ‘DrivePilot’. It is equipped with autonomous driving according to the American regulator Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standards.

The option will be introduced on the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class and EQS models and its use is currently only permitted in the US state of Nevada.

It’s not yet clear what this option will cost in the US. In Germany, the S-Class costs around 5,000 euros and the EQS around 7,430 euros. According to Auto News Europe.

In Germany, Mercedes-Benz introduced this option in May last year. It can also be used in selected situations.

The big difference between Level 2 and Level 3 operating Tesla’s Autopilot is that the driver has to pay much less attention to the road. According to the definition of Level 3 of the SEA, a driver is not driving “if the automatic functions are on, even if the driver is in the seat”.

This allows the driver to take their eyes off the road, for example, to chat with a passenger or watch a movie. During a demonstration of the DrivePilot option, a driver is one Playing a Tetris gameAt the same time the Mercedes EQS drove itself.

But that doesn’t mean the driver no longer has to keep his focus. In level 3, the driver is expected to intervene if necessary. So sleeping or closing your eyes is out of the question. Mercedes verifies this with a camera aimed at the driver.

In addition, the drive pilot only operates at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. Not even on all roads.

Although it’s a limited operation, Mercedes beat out American automakers like Tesla, Ford and General Motors by introducing Level 3 autonomous driving in the US this year.

Elon Musk sees Mercedes-Benz whining

It’s especially difficult at Tesla because Elon Musk Calling since 2015 Its vehicles will be fully self-driving in the future. However, his software is still in the testing phase. It also regularly makes headlines May cause accidents.

Despite these setbacks, Musk rolled out a “fully self-driving” beta to all U.S. Tesla customers last November. This is said to be the case Level 2 Autonomous Driving.

Tesla has long been accused of misleading customers in the name of ‘fully self-driving’. While this is far from the truth, it can make customers think that the car can actually drive completely autonomously.

Meanwhile, the US traffic watchdog NHTSA will investigate 35 incidents related to Tesla’s driving. According to the news site interception A total of 19 people would have died.

Mercedes-Benz says their technology meets the requirements of the state of Nevada. The brand has applied for certification in California, where Level 3 autonomous driving is also allowed under certain conditions.

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