Mercedes-Benz details active and passive safety technology and plans to carry out L3 autonomous driving testing in China

After the New Year’s bell rings, L3 level autonomous driving technology has become one of the most talked about matters in the industry, and is expected to be implemented in 2023. On January 27, Zhu Xichan, a professor at the School of Automotive Engineering at Tongji University and director of the Automotive Safety Technology Research Institute, called in an exclusive interview with The Paper. He hoped that in 2023, L3 level autonomous driving technology would have national standards in the form of legislation. Standardize the use of driverless cars on the road so that autonomous driving can be implemented.

The industry has high hopes for the implementation of L3 level autonomous driving technology. The most vocal car company in this field is Mercedes-Benz, which took the lead in Germany last May to allow the new  Mercedes-Benz S-Class  (  parameters  |  inquiry  ) and EQS models with L3 autonomous driving capabilities to hit the road. It has also been approved to legally drive on the road in Nevada, USA. According to the information disclosed by Mercedes-Benz at the Safety Technology Day, the next "destination" of its L3 technology is most likely to be China.

The implementation of L3 level autonomous driving technology is just a part of Mercedes-Benz’s technology, which is currently also committed to the research and development of active and passive safety technologies. At the Safety Technology Day event, Mercedes-Benz explained in detail the progress of its active and passive safety technologies, including the intelligent safety display car of the S-Class sedan, which elaborated on its four stages of safe driving, emergency, collision and post-collision. active and passive safety technologies, and conducted safety testing of intelligent driving assistance systems. At the same time, Mercedes-Benz also provided a more detailed explanation of the development of L3 autonomous driving technology.

Eye-catching active and passive safety technologies

Mercedes-Benz has a long history of research and development of safety technologies. In 1959, Mercedes-Benz pioneered automobile safety crash testing; in 1995, Mercedes-Benz became the first car company to apply ESP stability system to mass-produced vehicles; Mercedes-Benz was also the first to equip ABS anti-lock braking system car company; in 2002, Mercedes-Benz launched the preventive safety system PRE-SAFE, pioneering the use of active safety functions to assist passive safety functions.

Currently, Mercedes-Benz has put forward the vision of "zero fatal traffic accidents", planning to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries in traffic accidents by half from 2020 by 2030, and to achieve zero traffic accident mortality by 2050.

Based on this vision and with the support of the integrated safety concept, Mercedes-Benz's active and passive safety technology has developed further. In the safe driving stage, Mercedes-Benz has created safety technologies such as intelligent digital headlights, occupant classification systems, and intelligent driving assistance systems; in emergency situations, that is, in inevitable collisions, the PRE-SAFE preventive safety system will minimize injuries; even if In the event of a collision, the design of the front and rear crumple zones and rigid passenger compartment of the Mercedes-Benz body can also protect the occupants to the greatest extent. After a collision, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class also provides a variety of emergency rescue methods, including manually calling the emergency rescue center and automatically triggering the rescue hotline.

Among the many safety technology configurations, some small details of Mercedes-Benz's design demonstrate its detailed understanding of "safety is luxury". For example, the seat cushion airbags equipped with the rear seats can be inflated to raise the front area of ​​the seat cushion in the event of a collision to prevent the occupants from "dive" (the occupant's hips and hips slide forward) in a frontal collision. and then escape from the restraints of the seat belt). Another example is the Intelligent Magic Body Control System, which can actively lift the body body upwards by 80 mm in less than 0.1 seconds when an inevitable side collision occurs, thereby using a stronger underbody frame structure to withstand the huge side impact. impact.

On the Safety Technology Day, the author also experienced the multi-scenario safety protection test of Mercedes-Benz’s active brake assist system. This test includes testing the longitudinal emergency braking function at a speed of 60km/h, testing the lateral detection function at a speed of 40km/h (pedestrian crossing, no obstruction), and testing the lateral detection function (pedestrian crossing, one-sided) at a speed of 40km/h. occlusion).

When riding a Mercedes-Benz EQS and rushing towards the crossing dummy and the fake car in the middle of the road at a certain speed, you can fully feel the tension of encountering such real scenes in daily driving. When the vehicle speeds within a certain distance from an obstacle, EQS first emits a rapid siren, and then applies emergency braking when the driver fails to slow down and the vehicle is about to hit an obstacle. Sitting in the car, you can feel quite violent bumps, but in the three projects, the vehicle stopped steadily in front of the dummy and the fake car.

Drive Pilot drives "volume" moments

These three test projects are only part of Mercedes-Benz’s intelligent driving assistance system. In addition, Mercedes-Benz is also continuing to make efforts in the field of autonomous driving, hoping to build autonomous driving technology into a new luxury point and use this to ensure travel safety.

Mercedes-Benz's L3 autonomous driving system is called Drive Pilot, which is an intelligent pilot system. At the technical level, the intelligent navigation system is equipped with multiple sensors and redundant systems such as lidar, which can ensure its maneuverability in different weather conditions. Through digital high-definition maps, the intelligent navigation system can also receive information such as road shapes, routes, traffic signs, and abnormal traffic events (such as accidents or road construction).

At the usage level, the intelligent navigation system provides drivers with the opportunity to free their hands. During conditional autonomous driving, the system can support the driver in using the in-vehicle mobile office system, watching movies, etc. Although it has obtained L3 level certification, for safety reasons, this condition is currently limited to highway sections with suitable conditions and dense traffic.

At present, the entry of Mercedes-Benz L3 level intelligent navigation system into China has begun. Compared with the more radical autonomous driving routes of some new car manufacturers, safety is the core of Mercedes-Benz's development of autonomous driving technology, which is reflected in its active communication with relevant government departments. At the World Intelligent Connected Vehicle Conference in September 2022, Mercedes-Benz Chairman and CEO Kallenson said in his speech that Mercedes-Benz is communicating with relevant Chinese departments and plans to launch L3 conditional autonomous driving in China. Driving test.

It is worth mentioning that Mercedes-Benz has also set a certain example in terms of the division of powers and responsibilities in the use of autonomous driving technology. In March last year, Mercedes-Benz announced that if an accident occurs when a user uses the Mercedes-Benz intelligent pilot system, Mercedes-Benz will bear full responsibility. This is the first company in the world to announce that it takes responsibility for an autonomous driving accident.

As intelligent navigation systems gradually enter China, Mercedes-Benz's potential in China's pure electric vehicle market may be further unleashed. At present, the sales of pure electric models under the Mercedes-Benz EQ brand are still on the rise and are facing certain breakthrough pressure. In November last year, Mercedes-Benz officially announced price cuts for its three pure electric models, EQE, EQS, and AMG EQS 53, with adjustments ranging from 50,000 to 234,600 yuan. This is interpreted as Mercedes-Benz hoping to enter the more mainstream electric vehicle market and find a better balance between price and sales.

In terms of hybridization, Mercedes-Benz is also opening up the market with its fourth-generation plug-in hybrid technology. Its latest Mercedes-Benz C 350 e L plug-in hybrid sports sedan is equipped with this technology. This model can achieve a pure electric cruising range of more than 105 kilometers under WLTC conditions, charging from 10% to It only takes 21 minutes to charge to 80%, accelerate to 100 kilometers in 6.9 seconds, etc. When test driving the Mercedes-Benz C 350 e L, the author observed that this model performed well in terms of energy consumption, with a comprehensive fuel consumption of as low as 1.27 liters per 100 kilometers. In pure electric mode, the Mercedes-Benz C 350 e also shows a quietness and comfort close to pure electric models.

It is reported that Mercedes-Benz will launch 6 new pure electric models and plug-in hybrid models into the Chinese market this year, forming a matrix of 17 new energy products covering the new generation luxury, core luxury, and high-end luxury market segments. With the arrival of this product year, Mercedes-Benz will truly begin to usher in its "volume" moment.