Semi-autonomous driving is how Mercedes describes it and, having semi-driven it, we’re a little scared.
This isn’t the future either, this is right now. If you choose the Driving Assistance Package on the newest E-Class your car will drive itself. And by that we mean you can take your hands off the wheel and the car will steer itself on motorways and in town traffic jams, taking corners and braking to avoid hitting the car in front.
Hands-off driving is technically 'verboten'
OK, you’re not actually supposed to take your hands off the wheel, and we discovered that after 30 seconds or so it scolds you with a sharp beep and the appearance of a pair of blood-red hands on the screen.
It works via a combination of radar and cameras that monitor the white dividing lines on the road and the distance to the car in front. That’s not new, but Mercedes has grown bolder thanks to the fitment of a 3D camera that is able to lock onto the car you’re following in traffic to get a ‘tow’, turning with it to follow the curves of the road. The tech will also brake the car to a standstill.
This so-called Distronic Plus with Steer Control still works one-handed and the gentle steering wheel guidance in the E-Class Cabriolet we tried it in doesn’t feel too intrusive. In fact, we felt ourselves relaxing a bit, for example in conversation with our passenger we used more eye contact. Which may or may not be a good thing, depending on who’s in the passenger seat.
System can find its way around corners
This is either a huge step in relieving tension on long dull journeys or a dangerous way to lull drivers into relaxing past the point at which they can quickly react in emergencies. Right now, we can’t work out which.
Even Mercedes warns not to get too comfortable: “You have to be well aware that something can go wrong, and be aware of the limits,” Dr Michael Kramer, the guy in charge of C-, E- and CLS-Class model ranges, told us. In other words, make them too good and they’ll never pass legislation.
We did find that. Cars suddenly cutting in aren’t picked up quickly enough, and if the white line disappears for whatever reason, the Merc will just keep drifting over. What Mercedes is saying is that the system will let you split concentration between driving and other tasks. “With it you arrive relaxed and maybe having made some useful appointments on the way,” said Gerd Junginger, product manager for the E-Class coupe and cabriolet. “You don’t have to focus so much on the traffic.”
We imagine this statement will have as many people privately punching the air as publicly berating him for it.
This could become your mobile office. Hmm...
Take-up for the £2,345 option on the E-Class coupe and cabriolet will be small, estimated at 10-15 per cent according to Mercedes. You get more for that price, including automatic braking if you fail to spot a car or pedestrian while pulling out at junctions. But that take-up will be an increase on the sub-10 per cent for the less sophisticated system in the old car. The imminent S-Class will get the tech too.
The Japanese have become so addicted to the tech it’s standard on Merc E-Class coupes and cabrios sold there, and what that country likes is a pretty useful barometer for what becomes popular (unless it’s a Nissan Cube).
Of course Google is hard at work on the self-driving car and, also in the States, Stanford University has an autonomous Audi TT track day car.
Mercedes itself has previously demonstrated it can build autonomous cars, but says that’s not the plan. The driver will be in charge for a good while yet, says Dr Kramer. “The law is very simple. Autonomous driving is not allowed. One day if we can convince the authorities, maybe they would change that law, but I have my doubts.”
