SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Mercedes-Benz this year became the first automaker in the U.S. to say it plans to sell an advanced driver-assistance system that allows motorists to drive eyes-and-hands-free in certain traffic conditions.
But the company is aiming for an even more sophisticated Level 4 technology that would enable a vehicle to drive without human involvement under most conditions.
Mercedes’ Level 3 Drive Pilot system, self-certified for use only in Nevada for now, uses radar, lidar and other sensors to enable a vehicle to control driving functions on highways at speeds of up to 40 mph, freeing the driver to do other things, such as answer emails. Level 3 on the SAE International scale requires a human to take control of the vehicle when the automated driving system requests.
Mercedes Chief Technology Officer Markus Schäfer said achieving the more advanced Level 4 driving is “doable” by the end of the decade.
“Private-owned Level 4 cars, absolutely. This is something that I see in the future,” Schäfer said at a media event here last week.
Schäfer sees a market for hands-free, eyes-free driving in congested cities, especially in China, where traffic jams lasting several hours are common.
“Just imagine you are in a big city, and you come from work, and you are sitting for two hours in traffic, and you press the button and go to sleep,” he said. “There will be a demand for that.”
Humans have no role in driving when Level 4 automation is operating. Such a system can drive a vehicle within certain geographical limits or weather restrictions, as opposed to the elusive Level 5 system that would drive under all conditions. Alphabet’s Waymo and GM’s Cruise operate driverless robotaxi services in specific areas, but with vehicles that cost too much for regular commuters to own. BMW, like Volvo, is planning to install the hardware it believes will be necessary for automated driving and then update the software as capabilities and regulations allow.
Mercedes is already working toward bringing Level 4 technology to market. Germany passed a law in 2021 allowing Level 4 automated driving in specific public spaces.
Last year, Mercedes and megasupplier Robert Bosch received approval in Germany for a fully automated valet parking system for use in a Stuttgart Airport garage, allowing cars to drive into a reserved parking spot. The software relies on communication with sensors in the parking location to detect obstacles.
“We want to create a technology package [containing] everything a car needs to become a self-driving vehicle: sensors, cloud-based data processing and other components,” said Michael Hafner, a Mercedes software executive who previously was head of Drive Technologies and Automated Driving at the automaker. “We will offer this package to other OEMs as well.”
The auto industry, backed by technology suppliers such as Nvidia, targets a hands-off, eyes-off driving world.
BMW’s flagship 7 Series will get a Level 3 self-driving system this year — but the technology won’t be offered in the U.S. initially.
“It is real Level 3,” BMW Chief Technology Officer Frank Weber told journalists in January at CES in Las Vegas. “The vehicle is in charge, not the driver.”
Hyundai Motor Group late last year said it would roll out Level 3 technology in a new version of its Highway Driving Pilot system for the Genesis G90. Stellantis said it plans hands-free Level 3 automated driving capability in its cars starting in 2024.
Tesla is also hotly pursuing automated driving, offering consumers a beta version of an advanced driver-assistance system that it controversially calls Full Self-Driving.
At Mercedes, starting with its new Mercedes Modular Architecture vehicle platform mid-decade, all models will be hardware-ready to enable assisted-driving or enhanced assisted-driving functionalities.
Automated driving technology offers automakers the potential for a significant and recurring revenue stream.
Mercedes-Benz sales chief Britta Seeger expects automated driving systems to become the luxury marque’s “largest software-enabled revenue driver by 2030.”
Mercedes believes advanced-driving revenue will grow from “low single-digit” billion euros mid-decade to “mid-single-digit” billion euros by decade’s end.
Guidehouse Insights projects global sales of nearly 14 million vehicles with Level 4 automated driving systems annually by 2030, with a 12 percent market share.
Automakers see the technology as “something that consumers will see a value in and be willing to pay extra for,” Guidehouse principal analyst Sam Abuelsamid told Automotive News.
Automakers are already putting into their vehicles advanced chips, lidar, radar and other hardware required for Level 3 that are capable of handling more automated driving in the future.
The increase in the bill of materials to support Level 4 systems vs. Level 3 systems is about 20 to 25 percent, Abuelsamid said. Meanwhile, he said automakers are likely to charge 50 to 100 percent more for fully automated highway driving than today’s assisted-driving systems.
Safety concerns also factor into the drive toward Level 4.
Level 3 autonomy, which requires driver attentiveness, is fraught with concerns about accountability and insurance. Experts say allowing the driver to play Tetris while cruising down a highway yet requiring them to take over vehicle control at a moment’s notice is a tall order. Research by AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety found it can take up to 25 seconds to reengage with the act of driving.
That is why some industry experts have urged automakers to leapfrog Level 3 and focus on the more automated Level 4 technology.
“Handing the controls back to the driver is very challenging,” Greg Brannon, director of automotive engineering and industry relations at AAA, said at an industry conference last year.
But developing vehicles to think and drive like humans remains a significant technical challenge.
Maneuvering complex city traffic, including vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, requires advanced sensor technology and system redundancy.
“Proving the automated system’s safety and reliability is the hard part,” Abuelsamid said. “It’s all about the edge cases because that’s where the crashes happen.”