ge5159329878032965133
ge5335629700927280662
ge4888135810743446115
ge5756346121285360827
ge4718846023715992254
Carsales Staff23 Jun 2015
NEWS

Benz claims autonomous lead with E-Class

New Mercedes-Benz E-Class will jump BMW 7 Series and Benz S-Class, claims R&D chief

Mercedes-Benz is promising its next-generation E-Class -- due for launch early in 2016 and pictured here testing at the Nurburgring -- will trump arch-rival BMW by offering more advanced autonomous ability than the new 7 Series that goes on sale in Australia and globally in October.

But if Benz delivers on that promise it also means the new W213 E-Class will be more technologically sophisticated that its own flagship S-Class too.

“With the E-Class we will definitely do the next step (in autonomy) next year,” Mercedes-Benz research and development chief, Professor Doctor Thomas Weber, told motoring.com.au.

“We will reveal more in a couple of weeks and then of course we will talk about speed, how long without steering wheel and of course it will be more advanced comparable to the system that is in the market now.”

The sixth-generation 7 Series will launch internationally with the ability to remote self-park – although this feature won’t be offered in Australia initially – as well as a sophisticated group of driver assistant systems that effectively deliver limited semi-autonomous driving ability.

But Weber claimed the E-Class would provide superior tech at a cheaper price, pointing to the fact the E-Class is positioned in a cheaper category than the 7 Series, which lines up against the S-Class.

“Could be that our idea is what others do in the premium class we do in the business class. At least,” he said.

A recent Bloomberg report of a test drive of the new E-Class revealed some information. It reported the ability to drive autonomously on freeways and winding country roads at speeds up to 130km/h and the ability to autonomously emergency brake at speeds up to 90km/h to avoid rear-ending another car in a traffic jam and at up to 65km/h to avoid pedestrians.

The improvements come courtesy of developments to at least two packages that rely on cameras and sensors to work: Pre-Safe Brake and Distronic Plus with Steering Assist and Stop & Go Pilot.

The current S-Class has limited autonomous ability that allows it to drive at slow speeds in traffic without input from the driver, steer around gentle bends and brake for obstacles and pedestrians at speeds up to 50km/h. It can also cruise at high speed on the freeway and stay in lane as long as there are line markings.

The E-Class trumping the technology of the S-Class is a trend that Mercedes-Benz started in 2012 when the midlife update received some features ahead of the brand-new W222 S-Class.

But the new E-Class’ autonomous ability will still be restricted by safety legislation that requires drivers’ hands to be on the steering wheel. The E-Class first flashes a warning light then deactivates the self-steering system if there are no hands on the wheel for too long.

“These days there is the regulation in place that you have to hold on to the steering wheel and these kind of basic regulations we have to change,” said Weber.

“If we can convince the regulators that we are doing this careful step-by-step then they will give us more freedom.

“So far we hope that we can convince most of the regulators to approve these up-coming next steps together with us,” Weber said.

“That is one of the key questions. Speed is important, but in the end I don’t believe it is in our interest that some markets are faster going in this direction.

“So what we need as much as possible flexible regulations set up that we can fulfil more general rules and an invitation to do a little bit more or less linked to specific situations.”

Weber warned that developers of autonomous vehicles must be careful to avoid accidents. The debate over just who is held responsible when an autonomous vehicle crashes is one of the issues triggering caution from regulators.

“The first big accident linked to stupid guys which push their limit too far away will hurt the whole industry.

“We believe we (Mercedes-Benz) can manage this because we will do nothing that will lead to such a risk.”

Share this article
Written byCarsales Staff
See all articles
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Download the carsales app
    AppStoreDownloadGooglePlayDownload
    App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
    © CAR Group Ltd 1999-2024
    In the spirit of reconciliation we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.