- Mercedes is raising the maximum speed of its Drive Pilot Level 3 self-driving system to 95 km/h (59 mph) in Germany from early 2025.
- Other markets where Drive Pilot is legal, including the US, are still restricted to the old 60 km/h (37 mph) top speed for now.
- Mercedes says it hopes to reach the 81 mph (130 km/h) legal maximum for autonomous cars in Germany by 2030.
Mercedes was the first automaker to offer Level 3 hands-off, eyes-off self-driving, but a lowly 37 mph (60 km/h) maximum speed meant it was only useful in Autobahn traffic snarl-ups. That changes in early 2025 when Mercedes unlocks a new 59 mph (95 km/h) vmax for cars using its Drive Pilot autonomous system.
The upgrade only applies to cars using Germany’s Autobahns; Drive Pilot-equipped cars in other markets such as the US will still be limited to the original, lower speed, though that might change in time. There’s no additional LiDar, radar, or camera hardware required, it’s just a case of Mercedes re-certifying the technology with Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority, which the automaker hopes to have completed by the end of 2024.
Related: Mercedes Becomes First Carmaker To Start Level 4 Tests In China
Once the legal bit is dealt with all new cars ordered with Drive Pilot (currently €5,950 in Germany) will be capable of driving by themselves at 59 mph, and anyone with an older car can upgrade free of charge via an over-air update.
And it sounds like future updates may unlock even more MPH. Mercedes says the legally permitted maximum for autonomous vehicles in Germany is 81 mph (130 kmh), a speed it hopes to reach by the end of the decade. And by then Mercedes might be selling Level 4 systems, given that it’s already started testing them on Chinese roads.
Unlike some other driver-assist systems, like Ford’s Blue Cruise, which lets you take your hands off the wheel but requires you to keep your eyes on the road and pay full attention to what’s going on outside the car, Drive Pilot allows you to watch movies, play games or get on with work while it takes the strain. But the new high-speed system is more limited in other ways, such as only operating when the car is on the right-hand lane of an Autobahn with another vehicle ahead of it.
Mercedes has also developed special turquoise marker lights that signal to other drivers that the Benz they’re looking at is driving autonomously. Currently the lights, which are fitted to both door mirrors and integrated into the head- and taillights, are in the testing phase, but Nevada and California have both given their approval.
