Tesla Inc (TSLA)

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The first true hands-free car in the US is not a Tesla

Autonomous drive systems are ranked from level 0-5, describing how much capability the system has. In general, levels 0-2 are primarily human-driven, and levels 3-5 are primarily autonomously driven.

Most manufacturers selling cars today have some sort of driver assistance system that can be categorized as level 2. Every other system in the US (except driverless taxis like Waymo/Cruise, which are geofenced level 4 systems) caps out at level 2, which means that drivers still have ultimate liability for anything that happens while they are behind the wheel.

(A note: GM calls “Super Cruise” a “hands-free” system, which does let you drive without touching the wheel, but it is still a level 2 system, and drivers must keep their eyes on the road and are still ultimately responsible for the vehicle while behind the wheel.)

But Mercedes Drive Pilot is a level 3 system – the first validated to work in the US. Mercedes described this gulf between level 2 and level 3 as a “moonshot,” a step change in how people can use their vehicles.

What that means is this is the first system in the US that is actually validated to take full control of the vehicle, under certain circumstances, freeing you to do other tasks than driving. The system has been out in Germany for about a year now (and Mercedes claims it has tallied zero accidents while enabled, so far), but is only just coming stateside.

Continue reading... https://electrek.co/?p=324255