2024 Mercedes-Benz EQS

SPEAKER: Oh, a drive video where I'm not actually driving. I could get used to this. [MUSIC PLAYING] This is a level 3 autonomous system that we're testing here. And it's different from level 2 in a few key ways. If you have more questions about the levels, we actually shot this handy video where we explain all the different levels of autonomous driving. But the big thing you should know is the jump from level 2 to level 3 is really significant. Joining me on this drive today is Els from Germany. Now, her name is Dutch, but she is from Germany. She has flown all the way here to help us experience this system. [DING] This is a really big deal for Mercedes. One of their claims that they're very proud of is that they were the first to level 1 and level 2, and now they're going to be the first to level 3 here in the United States. Drive Pilot only works really when you're in traffic, so we're on the way to finding some traffic. I'm going to take this opportunity to sort of explain to you all the changes that had to happen to this vehicle in order to enable that jump from level 2 to level 3 driving. As this handy graphic kind of shows, basically everything has to get upgraded. More sensors have to be added, more radar, a LiDAR unit, a rear-facing camera. There are just so many more things that the vehicle has to take into account in that jump from level 2 to level 3 driving, and that necessitates big hardware and big software changes. So the operating conditions that need to be in place for Drive Pilot to activate, it only works at speeds 40 miles an hour and under. It only works with a vehicle in front of you. It only works when the lane lines are clearly marked, either with dots or with lane markers. And it also only works in good weather. So if it was raining or it was super dusty or there are conditions in which the LiDAR are and the radar don't really function that well, the car will default to the safer option, which is to hand control back over to you. And it also doesn't work at night, so this is, again, only a daytime system and really only meant to work in traffic. That's why we're here in Los Angeles, where traffic abounds. So this is kind of a great place to test it. Like, right now, we're on the 10 Freeway. We're hunting for traffic, and hopefully we can find some soon to really show you how this system works. Traffic is now getting worse. We've dipped below miles an hour. To activate this system, you can use these buttons here on the steering wheel. So I've requested Drive Pilot. This little warning pops up. I have to hit OK to accept it each time, not every time I turn it on, but each time the vehicle turns on. And so now we are in the fully automated driving mode. You can tell that it's on because these turquoise lights here on the steering wheel have lit up. Once it's activated, I basically have a lot of freedom. I can kind of do anything I want in the car, provided that I stay in the seat and provided that I can kind of get a read on my face. So things you can't do, can't sleep, can't lean the seat back like you're going to sleep, can't leave the front seat, but everything else pretty much is kind of fair game. Now, how does it feel when the system is on? Once you sort of get over the initial sort of nervousness of giving up some control of the vehicle, it's actually quite good. I've been watching it as it's been working on the highway. The lane centering is very good. It doesn't overly index for the car in front of you. All the sort of precision from those maps and things means that it stays pretty much rock solid in the center of its lane. It also has built in features that if it detects a semi truck or a motorcyclist coming to split lanes, it'll actually sort of cheat you over in the lane a little bit, like you would naturally if you're driving, and that just gives you more confidence that the system is really paying attention to the environment around it. Speeding up and slowing down, also very smooth, just sort of like everything in the EQS is. This car has just really impeccable ride quality, really quiet inside. The EQS was already a very luxurious automobile. But when you're being driven, it just makes the experience even more luxurious. And in our time behind the wheel today, the vehicle hasn't done anything that would make me doubt its capabilities. This system actually debuted in Germany about a year ago. And when we spoke to the German engineers today, they said that they had no reported accidents while the system was active. So from the driver's seat here, where I'm not actually driving, I have pretty high confidence in the system in a pretty short amount of time, which I wasn't expecting. Now, built into the infotainment system in this EQS here are things like a web browser, are things like mini games, and also YouTube. So if I really want to, I can actually go down here while Drive Pilot is on. I can turn on this system. I can activate YouTube and I can do my favorite thing, which is watch videos of myself. And that's what we're doing today we'll get a question and a price. I don't know why I wore that. Now, Els tells me that there are games and things. We're going to go to Apps here and we're going to play Shufflepuck. ELS: The force is actually how far you pull it back. [INAUDIBLE]. SPEAKER: Oh, that's fun. ELS: Yeah, it is. SPEAKER: It's very bad. ELS: Yeah. It is for you, but not for me. Sorry for that. SPEAKER: So I prefer a level 2 system, where I don't lose at things while being driven around. Now it's asking me to take full control of the vehicle because the car in front of me got too far ahead. So that's one of the operating conditions for the system that needs to be in place. If there is no longer a car in front of you in close enough proximity to be detected, the system will prompt you to take control of the vehicle. Of course, I'm sitting right here, so I'm able to do so very quickly. Now, for your normal kind of level 2 system, the engineering guidelines are that the driver needs to be able to retake control of the vehicle within 1 second of a shut off. But here, Mercedes says you actually have about 10 seconds to retake control of the vehicle. And if you don't take re-control within those 10 seconds, the car will activate the hazard lights and actually slow to a stop in its lane because it's assumed you've had some sort of medical episode. And then once you stop, puts the car in park, unlocks the doors so that emergency personnel can come reach you. But to let it know that I've retaken control, I just push these buttons here on the steering wheel again. Or I add some steering pressure to let the system know that I'm once again engaged and able to take control of the vehicle. Right now, we're actually at an interchange between the two freeways, and this is one of the conditions as well in which the system doesn't quite work. I actually don't mind that because interchanges can be complicated. They're prone to construction. There's a lot of lanes and things moving on. Think of Drive Pilot not as sort of a fully automated system that will kind of go all over the road. The level 2 system that Mercedes has in this vehicle will actually do automatic lane changes and things like that. But Drive Pilot is really meant for one lane in the use case where you're in traffic, you can't really push through the traffic anyway, you might as well have some time given back to you. You're able to browse, watch videos, do other things. But again, don't think of it as a fully automated, do everything for you system. It's more like level 2 enhanced, but enhanced in a really impressive way. Drive Pilot can only be activated on highways, and the system is actually pretty good at telling if you're on a highway or not. So right now, I'm on a regular street. If I try to activate it, it tells me this portion of road is unusable. The system uses very, very precise and map data to actually tell where you are. The system is so precise, they say, that it actually has to take into account continental drift. And if you don't know what that is, Google it. But basically, the system is so precise that it can detect where you are on the road down to the centimeter, or I guess if you're here in the US, the inch. Now, the system can also detect if emergency vehicles are around. So ahead of us here, you can see the lane has been closed by emergency vehicle, as they're doing some cleaning on the freeway. So it detects these yellow lights on these arrows and it actually prompts me to take control in this circumstance. So as you can see, we're now passing these vehicles, past the Highway Patrol with the blue and yellow lights. And once I pass that, you can resume the system or you can resume the level 2 system. Now, it's important to note that when the system prompts you to take control, all the driver assistance is turned off. So it doesn't automatically kick you back into level 2 or anything like that. It actually wants you to retake control fully in those scenarios. And then once you've gotten out of those conditions, it allows you to turn on the level 2 or level 3 system to have the driver assistance back. So one of the big questions that we've had in this transition from level 2 to level 3 driving systems is ultimately, who is liable in the case of a crash? Mercedes tells us that if an incident occurs while the car is driving itself, you will not be liable. So Mercedes actually takes on the liability when the system is active because, in that case, the vehicle has assumed what they call dynamic control. Now, again, the car will prompt you to retake control if speeds go above 40 miles an hour or in those other situations. And once that happens, you then immediately become liable again. So it's always good to pay attention, even when these systems are on. Now, the system is going to be offered by Mercedes on a subscription basis. So if you have a vehicle with a hardware, you'll actually activate it through the Mercedes me connect system, and it costs $2,500 per year. Now, Mercedes says that down the line, they may offer different frames. So you could perhaps get a multi-year package that's cheaper than that on a per year basis, but this system will be a subscription, so something you're going to have to re-up for if you want to keep using it. I'm in an EQS right now. This is one of two vehicles that will initially be equipped with the Drive Pilot system, this one and the S-class. And the thing that you should know is that if you want to have a vehicle equipped with these systems, you're going to have to order it from the factory. Now, it is a no-cost option. It's not going to cost you any extra to get a vehicle that's equipped with this hardware. But Mercedes tells us that if you get a level 2 equipped vehicle that doesn't have this hardware, there's not really any way for them to retrofit it. So in order to future proof your vehicle, you should really opt for getting all that hardware in place right away. Now, Mercedes says that these vehicles will be available before the end of the year. So before the end of this year, you'll actually see S-class EQS models on the road, driving themselves in traffic. And for now, these systems are limited to California and Nevada. Those are the only states with which Mercedes has certification. It's kind of a complicated process here in the United States. They're actually going to have to go state by state to get approval, and they didn't yet announce which are going to be the next states to get approval. So if you live outside of California or Nevada, you might have a little bit of a wait. I came away from my time with Drive Pilot a bit mystified. It's clear that developing this system was a complicated endeavor with all the added sensors and complexity. And while it was on, I have to say, it worked pretty flawlessly. But with the operating conditions being so narrow, I couldn't shake the thought of, is this all worth it, from my head. Even trying to film this video was difficult as the vehicle would hand control back just as we were getting going, especially with that low 40 miles an hour speed threshold. And if I were paying $2,500 a year to use this system and it wouldn't stay on, I'd find that pretty frustrating. And we should also note that in Germany, the top speed for this system is actually set to increase next year to about 60 miles an hour, and we think that something like that happening in the US would really expand the use case of Drive Pilot and allow you to use it in even more conditions. For now, though, we can tell you that the jump from level 2 to level 3 driving feels pretty significant. [MUSIC PLAYING]