Having your commute involve a scenic canyon road would probably be a dream for many, but for Lucian Capellaro, his daily drive through Laurel Canyon from the San Fernando Valley to Los Angeles’ west end is a tedious, never-ending nightmare.

Not surprisingly, he started listening with great interest as co-workers started extolling the virtues of their Teslas’ Full Self-Driving feature. They would just enter a destination and the car would get them there. It sounded like a godsend, but he wasn’t sold. Quite simply, he’d rather own something other than a Tesla–as much for car-related reasons such as design, interior quality and body style as anything political.

Mercedes might soon be offering an alternative for him. Its MB.Drive Assist Pro point-to-point automated driving system is set to be added to a large number of the brand’s electric and internal combustion vehicles early next year. Already-purchased eligible vehicles will be able to add it via an over-the-air update.

As with Tesla’s Full Sell-Driving (Supervised) feature, MB.Drive Assist Pro allows drivers to enter in a destination and the car will drive them there and park. There is one main difference, however. Like FSD, the Mercedes system operates hands-free on controlled access highways. Unlike FSD, the system requires you to keep a hand on the wheel when on surface streets.

This functionality isn’t necessarily a sign of its inferiority, but rather a philosophical one. Mercedes is adhering to a strict interpretation of autonomous driving “levels” as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

Source link