First Test: What It’s Like Using Mercedes-Benz’s Drive Pilot Automated Driving System

It’s going to be a challenge in the coming years for automotive writers everywhere: How exactly does one write about the upcoming autonomous driving systems that are about to proliferate across the car world? When you think about it, the experience of using an autonomous car is kind of like riding in a taxi — if the taxi could drive itself, that is. Such systems basically boil down to two questions: Did the thing work, yes or no? And did you die? No? Sounds like it was a success, then.

Related: Mercedes-Benz Announces Drive Pilot Level 3 Automated Driving Availability

I recently experienced the first-ever fully approved Level 3 autonomous driving system available in the U.S.: the new Mercedes-Benz Drive Pilot system, available later this year on the 2024 Mercedes-Benz EQS electric and S-Class gas-powered luxury sedans. The brand plans to make the feature available in California and Nevada only, as those are the only two states to have approved regulations governing autonomous vehicles as of this writing — the U.S. is a regulatory patchwork when it comes to this and looks likely to be going forward, given our fractured political landscape.

But wait, you’re saying, how can this new Mercedes-Benz system really be the first legally approved autonomous driving system? What about Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature? What about GM’s Super Cruise or Ford’s BlueCruise? Despite what Elon Musk would have you believe, Tesla’s FSD (and every other system that currently does some driving for you) is still a Level 2 autonomous feature, with the big difference between Level 2 and Level 3 being required driver attention and involvement. A Level 2 system is considered a driver-assist system; the driver is still required to pay attention to what’s going on around them at all times and may be asked to take over for the system at an instant’s notice. But a Level 3 system is considered the first tier of a truly autonomous system, meaning that when it’s operating, you’re free to do other things in the car; read a book, watch YouTube on the car’s screens, play games, do some basket weaving — just don’t doze off or leave your seat. It’s a step on the way to the fully autonomous robotaxis that many companies are developing, but it is still just a step; we’re not there yet. So what exactly is Mercedes-Benz peddling here?

Safety First

First, you start with a new 2024 EQS Sedan or a gas-powered S-Class, both of which come standard with Intelligent Drive Level 2 semi-autonomous system. That combines a huge list of 40 different driver-assist systems like Active Steering Assist, Active Lane Keeping Assist, Evasive Steering Assist, Active Distance Assist (Distronic) and more. Intelligent Drive enables you to set a cruise-control speed and, as long as you’re still touching the steering wheel and paying attention, the car will cruise along in its lane, maintaining a following distance by braking and accelerating as needed, and will even change lanes automatically when it detects that it can and there’s a slower vehicle in your path. The car has several systems, like cameras and frequent prompts, to make sure you’re still attentive and present.

But now here comes Drive Pilot. Mercedes-Benz combined all that sensory input then added even more detection systems like lidar (laser-based radar, essentially), actual radar, stereoscopic optical cameras, sonar sensors, microphones to listen for emergency vehicle sirens, rear-facing optical cameras to look for approaching flashing lights and moisture sensors in the wheel wells to determine if the road is too wet. It also made several key systems redundant: The whole car has secondary backup systems for the braking system, steering system, wheel-speed sensors and even the car’s whole electrical system, according to Mercedes-Benz. This all seems like a lot of expensive extra equipment, but it’s indicative of just how seriously the brand takes the safety of this system — both for the car’s occupants and the world at large in which it’s operating. (A considerably different approach to Tesla’s fast-and-loose FSD, for sure.)

So What Does Drive Pilot Do?

Essentially, Drive Pilot lets you activate a system that lets the car drive itself in a traffic jam at speeds up to 40 mph on approved highway patches (as long as many different conditions are met) and — here’s the kicker — you don’t have to pay attention to what it’s doing. This allows you to take your hands off the wheel and read a magazine, watch YouTube on the car’s built-in touchscreen display, play quizzes and games, check the weather or stock markets, take calls, chat with friends, etc. The car will automatically speed up, slow down, maintain its lane (but not change lanes) and continue on in stop-and-go traffic until something shuts it off — either by your choice or changing conditions. What can’t you do? Technically, you’re not supposed to hold your cellphone (it’s illegal in California and Nevada to do that while driving, even if you’re not … technically … driving?), and you can’t lay back and have a nap. The car isn’t monitoring you as closely as GM’s Super Cruise system, but it does make sure you’re still present and semi-alert.

The system will let you know that it’s ready to work via two lights on the steering wheel, right where your thumbs would naturally sit. When it’s ready, the LEDs light up white — press the button on the wheel to request Drive Pilot, and the car does a quick check to make sure it can engage then prompts you to confirm by hitting OK on the wheel. Once you do that, the LEDs light up turquoise to indicate the car is now driving itself, and you’ve become a passenger. It will continue to do this until it encounters something like a construction zone, a section of highway that hasn’t been properly mapped, random motorcycles, pedestrians on the highway, changing weather conditions (it doesn’t work in rain or snow) or the sun sets (it won’t work in the dark, either, as it needs those optical cameras). There’s no setting a speed like there is with Intelligent Drive — the car just goes along with traffic, maintaining distance as necessary, but if speeds go over 40 mph or the traffic in front of you clears, it will ask you to take over.

“What Would You Like to Do Now?”

As I trundled along in Los Angeles traffic behind the wheel of a European-spec 2024 EQS Sedan, with the car driving itself and successfully negotiating probably the worst part about visiting LA (the I-10 between Santa Monica and downtown), I marveled at how ordinary it all felt. I had to watch a seven-minute video on the car’s central display before I started the drive, as all drivers will have to do once in order to have the system activated, but now it was just tootling along, steering calmly, with an advanced graphic in the head-up display showing me the area the car was scanning in real time. I’ve experienced things like this before in other systems like Super Cruise (which is excellent), but it didn’t feel any different from those systems as I was still paying attention to the traffic, other cars, what the EQS was doing and so on. To answer the question I asked at the start of this article: Yes, it works, and no, we weren’t dying yet. Good job, Mercedes-Benz. And that’s when a question came from the backseat from one of the two German Mercedes-Benz engineers accompanying me: “What would you like to do now?”

Would I like to read the LA Times newspaper they’d brought along? Surf YouTube? Play some quiz games on the center console? And here’s where an issue pops up for me — I didn’t want to do any of that. I still wanted to watch the traffic to make sure the thing was working and that we weren’t going to die from something another driver was about to do. I was comfortable with how the car was performing — it worked well, and the Drive Pilot system was easy to engage — but letting myself focus on other things while driving on a five-lane highway full of traffic was something that I wasn’t ready to do just yet. So we continued on for a while, and eventually I agreed to play some quiz games on the console — and proved to myself that my unease with doing so was real.

This Is Going to Take Some Time

As my focus shifted to the screen and answering quiz-game questions with my passengers, I glanced up less and less. Suddenly, I realized that traffic had cleared, but Drive Pilot hadn’t disengaged or asked me to take over, so we were still cruising along at 40 mph while everyone else had sped up considerably and were passing us, and there was nobody in front of me. I hadn’t noticed, but now we were a rolling roadblock. I shook my head in embarrassment and pushed the steering wheel button to disengage the system and resume control of the car, feeling a bit silly at our situation.

So does it work? Yes, it does, and it works quite well. Drive Pilot includes a significant number of safety systems and caveats to try and make sure that should it ever not work, you’ll still be okay. The car actually gives you 10 seconds to take over from the time it asks you to, so it’s still responsible for driving and operating the vehicle safely, even after it’s noticed a situation that needs your attention.

But when it comes to a driver’s comfort level with such a system, not paying attention to what’s going on around you will likely require a generational shift. I’ve been around long enough to see the introduction of semi-autonomous driver-assistance systems and the butt-clenching situations they sometimes had issues handling. My trust in the systems has grown along with their sophistication, but I still don’t feel 100% ready to just let the car take over on a highway while I go focus on other things. I’m happy to let it drive, but I’m still going to keep a close eye on the situation. It might require a new generation of drivers who’ve grown up with robot cars to fully be comfortable with their operation; us older folks might not get there as quickly.

The new Drive Pilot system will be available later this year only in California and Nevada for now, and Mercedes-Benz says it’s still figuring out a lot of the details on cost; initially, it’s going to be available only as a subscription, with the first year costing you an eye-popping $2,500. The brand is also ramping up customer support, dealer training and demo drives for the upcoming launch.

For the conditions in which Drive Pilot works, it’s going to be a godsend — it makes Los Angeles traffic less horrible, and that will be a big selling point for a lot of customers. Given how distracted and ready many drivers already are for doing things other than driving while still behind the wheel, I don’t expect much of an adoption-comfort curve, either.

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