Mercedes-Benz L3 autonomous driving is here, is it a breakthrough or a gimmick?

Speaking of autonomous driving, everyone must be familiar with it. Autonomous driving has become a major disruptive innovation since humans invented the car. It has a very important impact on the automotive industry, social development, and travel systems. In this field, there are many players entering the field, such as Huawei and Baidu, which provide solutions, or Tesla, which builds its own cars. They have invested a lot of energy in this field, wanting to grasp the development trend and anchor the future.

Some friends may not be very clear about the level of autonomous driving. The level of autonomous driving is divided into L0~L5, among which L0~L2 can only be regarded as "assisted driving". At present, domestic car companies mainly promote L2 assisted driving functions. L2 and below levels of autonomous driving are only affiliated with the assisted driving level. The driver's supervision is always required throughout the driving process, and the driver is always the main body of vehicle operation. In the L3 level autonomous driving system, if the speed is not higher than 40 kilometers per hour, the driver can take his feet, hands and eyes off until the system reminds him to take over. If the driver still does not take over after being reminded to take over, the system will slow down and stop. When the autonomous driving reaches L3 and above, the driver only needs to sit in the driving position, the driver can free his hands and feet, and his eyes can also leave the road.

At present, my country's road traffic regulations have not yet given the "green light" to L3 and above autonomous driving levels, so the autonomous driving promoted by major mainstream car companies is at the L2 level, which requires the driver to maintain a driving posture and always pay attention to the surrounding conditions and take over the vehicle at any time. Of course, this is also because the technology of autonomous driving is not very mature. L3 autonomous driving is currently just building castles in the air, and it is not easy for consumers to experience it.

Recently, Mercedes-Benz's L3 autonomous driving is here. According to Mercedes-Benz, starting from May 17, Mercedes-Benz S-Class and  Mercedes-Benz EQS models  sold  in the German market will be equipped with the optional Drive Pilot system (L3 autonomous driving system), with optional  costs  of 5,000 euros ( about  RMB 35,155) and 7,430 euros (about RMB 52,241) respectively.

At the end of last year, Mercedes-Benz's L3 autonomous driving system passed the strict technical regulations approval of the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), becoming the world's first automobile company to obtain the United Nations regulation UN-R157 certification.

It is understood that Mercedes-Benz's Drive Pilot system can be activated on 13,191 kilometers of highways across Germany under busy road traffic conditions, with a maximum speed not exceeding 60km/h.

The vehicle senses the surrounding situation through the system equipped with radar, lidar and cameras, as well as ultrasonic and humidity sensors, and provides road condition data to the on-board "brain", which responds by controlling speed, braking and lane position according to the surrounding conditions.

Of course, this L3 autonomous driving system also has a prerequisite, which is that the driver is required to take over the Drive Pilot system at any time. If the driver does not respond within 10 seconds, the vehicle will make an emergency stop.

The Drive Pilot system can ask the driver to take over at any time, which is also a prerequisite for the L3 autonomous driving system. If the driver does not respond within 10 seconds, the car will make an emergency stop. Of course, this system can only be provided on new cars. If it is an old car, there is no way to retrofit it because there is no corresponding hardware.

The Drive Pilot system is a Level 3 autonomous driving system. For Mercedes-Benz cars equipped with this system, if the driver turns on this system while driving, Mercedes-Benz will bear legal responsibility for the operation of the car. In other words, when the driver uses the Drive Pilot function, as long as the pre-conditions are met, if the vehicle is involved in a traffic accident, Mercedes-Benz will bear the relevant responsibility.

In fact, in the automotive industry, there have always been many doubts about autonomous driving, and many people think that autonomous driving is just a gimmick.

Not long ago, Weichai Power Chairman Tan Xuguang publicly expressed his views on autonomous driving: "The current autonomous driving technology is just a scam. L1 and L2 autonomous driving are still so-so, and L3 autonomous driving is impossible."

In the minds of many consumers, L3 autonomous driving is a dream that car companies have promised consumers but cannot achieve in the short term. But now, L3 autonomous driving has become a reality and only needs to undergo further market tests.

What kind of changes can Mercedes-Benz's launch of L3 autonomous driving bring to consumers' driving style? Will it form a new travel experience? Let's wait and see.