L3 level autonomous vehicles should be put on the road slowly, and L4 level should be released as soon as possible

Allowing L3-level autonomous vehicles to hit the road is more stressful than joyful for car companies. They will inevitably fall into a new round of technology competition, and for users, the actual functions are not powerful enough. L4 is different. It will activate an emerging industry. It can be said that L4 is a spring breeze, while L3 is a reshuffle.

The news that my country will release L3 autonomous vehicles on the road on December 1 this year has been circulating on the Internet since the end of October this year. ‍

Since the German regulatory authorities officially released L3 autonomous driving on December 10 last year, Mercedes-Benz has become the first car company in the world to officially obtain the L3 road license (Japan grabbed the first prize, but has not actually implemented it). Mercedes-Benz has stated many times. It hopes to obtain corresponding licenses in the United States and China to allow its vehicles to go on the road. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

▲Kallinson’s excitement is beyond words

At that time, Daimler Chairman Kallenius held the document that the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) approved the system in accordance with the technical approval regulations UN-R157, and excitedly announced that Mercedes-Benz had become the first L3 autonomous vehicle in the world to be approved on the road. Car companies that drive on the road (for details, see "Why did Germany and Mercedes-Benz give the green light to L3 autonomous driving?").

But this scene has not become a reality in China as 2023 is about to enter the end of the year. ‍

01.

my country’s release of L3 autonomous driving this year is a high probability event‍‍

So will China really officially launch L3 autonomous driving pilots on December 1?

Zhijia.com learned from reliable sources that the pilot notice for intelligent connected car access should be released this year. This pilot is permitted by national-level policies. ‍

Compared with Shenzhen, which officially passed the "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Intelligent Connected Vehicle Management Regulations" in June last year, it seems to have opened up L3 autonomous driving in name, but it has not really identified car companies as the main responsibility for accidents when it is turned on. square. ‍‍‍

However, an expert told Zhijia.com: "Shenzhen is no longer called a pilot program. It is in the form of legislation, which means that it is legal for self-driving cars to be on the road in Shenzhen."

However, more than a year since the implementation of this management regulation, no company has claimed that its technology has achieved L3 level. Although urban NOA and highway NOA battles have come one after another, no car company has actively claimed to have achieved a level leap. Still touching the ceiling a little bit within the limit of L2.9999. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

The main legal basis for the management department to achieve policy breakthroughs this year and release L3 autonomous driving on the road is on November 2 last year. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security issued the "About Carrying out the Pilot Work on the Access and Road Access of Intelligent Connected Vehicles" "Notice" has been publicly solicited for opinions. It has been exactly more than a year since today.

In the public draft for comments, it is clarified that the autonomous driving functions of intelligent connected vehicles include L3 driving automation, which is a conditionally autonomous vehicle, and L4 driving automation, which is a highly autonomous vehicle.

In other words, after the pilot access notice is released, L3 level autonomous vehicles can be put on the road.

On October 20 this year, Tao Qing, director of the Operation Monitoring and Coordination Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, made it clear at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on the 20th that he would launch a pilot program for the admission and on-road use of intelligent connected vehicles.

In other words, according to the current public information, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has been promoting the breakthrough of this pilot. ‍‍

According to reliable information, many domestic OEMs participated in the formulation of relevant standards.

Even relevant evaluation agencies have already formulated relevant evaluation standards.

China Automotive Evaluation Corporation released the autonomous driving evaluation part of its intelligent connected vehicle evaluation procedures on November 9, that is, the evaluation procedures for L3 level autonomous vehicles.

This is the first national standard to evaluate autonomous driving in China.

Evaluation standards are on the horizon, so is the entire industry ready?

02.

It’s not a minority of car companies who think L3 is a burden

The above-mentioned industry insiders said that car companies are already preparing to put L3 models on the road. Another senior expert in the industry also said that car companies are preparing to put L3 vehicles on the road.

But is it really time to let go of L3?

An unnamed industry professional told Zhijia.com: “L3 is more of a burden for car companies, but has no practical significance for consumers. It should be slowed down, while L4 should be accelerated and released quickly. "

Why is L3, which has been called for by enterprises for many years, a burden? ‍

The person explained: "From the perspective of car companies, L3 cannot see any actual benefits, and when L2 smart cars are sold, they do not have to bear responsibility. What is wrong with this?"

From the perspective of industrial development, the boundary between L2 and L3 is too blurry, and how to identify L3 requires huge management costs. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

As for the identification of managers' liability for accidents, "the industry choice must be the watershed between having a driver in the car and not having a driver in the car, not L3."

Someone is not clear, clear and accurate.

This person said that after L3 is on the road, if an accident occurs, it will be very difficult for front-line traffic police to deal with it, and it is difficult to treat L3 differently. Whether there is a driver or not is the clearest indicator of the applicable terms.

At this point, we can look at the three restrictions that Germany has set for L3 to go on the road:

1. Speed ​​limit: The maximum speed limit is 60 kilometers per hour. If this speed is exceeded, the driver will still be legally responsible for an accident.

2. Scene restrictions: 13,191 kilometers of highways throughout Germany.

3. Behavioral restrictions: No sleeping, no continuous looking back or leaving the driver's seat. You must still be ready to take over the vehicle at any time.

This requires a very high cognitive threshold for both drivers and managers.

Of course, from the perspective of technological progress, the German regulatory authorities are worthy of praise for their attempts.

However, starting from reality, after Mercedes-Benz obtained the first L3 certification, although BMW is also applying, the most cunning Tesla has never taken the initiative to go into this muddy water, but has always insisted that AutoPilot is L2. Musk once said that FSD will still be L2 even if it matures, which obviously means avoiding responsibility. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

In China, this situation is also very common.

Some media also pointed out in reports that some car companies believe that car companies do not actually want to go to L3.

On the one hand, L3 requires car companies to take responsibility. On the other hand, the pilot also means a lot of money for car companies.

This is obviously another huge expenditure for the OEMs that are trapped in price wars today.

Because it is necessary to open up a new field of technological competition.

03.

L2 plays an irreplaceable protective role for car companies

Here, we will briefly elaborate on the difference between L2 and L3 to explain why this long-awaited benefit has caused enterprises to struggle.

In the definition of SAE International Society of Automotive Engineers, L2 is semi-autonomous driving and L3 is conditional autonomous driving.

At L2 level, the vehicle can achieve partial automation by continuously assisting the driver in accelerating, braking and steering, but the driver still needs to maintain attention and concentrate on driving. At the L3 level, the vehicle can automatically handle all driving tasks under limited conditions. The driver can divert attention to a certain extent, but still needs to remain vigilant to take over control when the system cannot perform the task.

The biggest difference between the two is that in the L2 stage, the driver needs to maintain driving status throughout the entire process, while the L3 level allows the driver to be distracted and perform other operations; at the same time, the driver is responsible for an accident in the L2 level vehicle, while the L3 level system causes the accident. It is the responsibility of the car manufacturer.

For example, the operation requirement of Mercedes-Benz's L3 level system Drive Pilot in Germany is to conditionally drive autonomously in heavy traffic or congestion at a speed of 60 km/h on highways throughout Germany. If an accident occurs when Drive Pilot is turned on when certain conditions are met, the car company will be held responsible. However, if an accident occurs because the driver fails to take over when the system prompts that the vehicle needs to be taken over, the driver will be held responsible.

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class and EQS equipped with Drive Pilot are L3 models currently on the market.

But since its opening last year, there have not been many reports on its use.

Some overseas media believe that although Mercedes-Benz advertises that the car company will be responsible if an accident occurs if the system is turned on under specified conditions, in fact the definition of responsibility is not easy to clarify.

According to the requirements, the car company will be held responsible for accidents caused by system failure. If the driver causes the accident, or the accident is caused by the driver's failure to respond to the system takeover request, the car company will not be held responsible.