4 ms·

> For Drive Pilot to activate, the vehicle must be traveling no faster than 40 mph (65 km/h), it must have a vehicle in front to follow, road conditions must be

> For Drive Pilot to activate, the vehicle must be traveling no faster than 40 mph (65 km/h), it must have a vehicle in front to follow, road conditions must be dry and clear, the lane markings must be detectable, and the route must be pre-mapped by the system. At $2500 per year, I would expect that this would cost on average $100 per trip when actually usable. Maybe more.

shkkmo 3y ago
If your daily commute has congestion (i.e. using it twice per workday), then the price drops to ~$5 per trip. If you live somewhere where you only experience highway congestion 25 times a year, you probably aren't the target market.
- gnicholas 3y ago
  This is true, but then each "trip" is reduced to the part of the commute that has sub-40 mph traffic. I guess that could be much of your commute if you're a poor schlub, but then what are the odds you can afford an S-Class Benz?
  - SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
    That's an interesting way to think about it. For my city (Edmonton) it seems like if you're well off you're going to be living in a community in the city. It's the middle-class who are paying for a much larger home for a less convenient location.
    - gnicholas 3y ago
      This is in line with what I was trying to say. Basically, you might have a lousy long commute where this would be very valuable. But then you probably can't afford this car.
      - SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
        Ah, I got confused by the "I guess that could be much of your commute if you're a poor schlub" part, because I would assume they'd get up to highway speeds to end up wherever they live, whereas someone more well off wouldn't hit that.
  - olyjohn 3y ago
    Where on earth do you sit in traffic that doesn't burst up above 40mph every now and then? It's called stop and go, not go consistently below 40mph. Sounds like this wasn't well thought out. In LA, you'd be in traffic going 80, then screech to a halt, then back up to 80. Even on my commute into Downtown Seattle where people drive slow as fuck, there were always openings between onramps where it was no problem to hit 40. That's such a low bar.
    - gnicholas 3y ago
      Yeah, I agree. This seems like it would be useful for stretches on 405, but not likely the bulk of a trip. Where I live, I could see it being useful for a decent chunk of 101, which could amount to 30 mins each way, each day. I wonder if it drops down into a less-capable driver-assist mode when the speed goes higher, such that you can still just monitor the system for nearly all of your trip. Or does it drop you out into full human-driving mode?
- vericiab 3y ago
  It depends on the climate where you live though, right? Where I am there's plenty of congestion. There's also plenty of rain, snow, slush, and road construction. The snow removal and construction really take a toll on the lane markings, so detectable lane markings isn't a guarantee either.
gnicholas 3y ago
This would be usable during rush hour on 101 going through SV, and in many parts of LA. Some people could use it 2x/day. However, those people are not likely to be able to afford an expensive new Mercedes, since super-high earners probably aren't the people going into the office every day. Also, people wealthy enough for an S-Class Benz probably don't live super far from the office, since they can afford to live pretty much anywhere.
- tialaramex 3y ago
  Some wealthy people like driving. An S-class is one reasonable thing you might purchase if you are wealthy but enjoy driving and would prefer to do more of it than (likely) is necessary or ordinarily appropriate for your station in life. It's a nice car, it's too expensive if you need to justify the price, but if you don't care about the price then why not? So if you like driving, then you might choose to live somewhere that's a "longer commute" even though you needn't - as this is part of your day which you enjoy. Now, that's probably not going to be bumper-to-bumper freeway traffic, but it absolutely might include country roads at limited speed - I said enjoys driving not racing, if you like track racing and have $$$ you can indulge that without owning a road car at all.
  - gnicholas 3y ago
    Yes, some people enjoy driving. But this system requires a lead car. I don't know anyone who enjoys driving behind a lead car.
    - jdeibele 3y ago
      I do. I have a Bolt EUV and turn on SuperCruise (hands-off but only on divided freeways) when I can, adaptive cruise control when I can't. The car handles speeding up and slowing down for me based on what the car in front is doing. I just have to steer. I know that jumping lanes is not going to get me there much sooner but it's hard to resist "competing" to get there first.
  - TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
SkyPuncher 3y ago
Wow. That's an insane limitation. My car with radar cruise and camera based lane centering: can go any speed, doesn't need a leader, handles terrible conditions (notably it sees better than I can during night time rain with glare from on-coming traffic), comes to a stop, starts from a stop, and handles some pretty crappy lane markings. It don't handle sharp corners and doesn't auto-drive. It does, however, take 90% of the effort out of the place I spend most of my driving time - highways.
- shalmanese 3y ago
  All of those features are also available on the EQS, this is an additional set of features on top of that.
- turtlebits 3y ago
  Being on the safe side isn't insane. Putting lives at risk with a "beta" self-driving vehicle is insane.

shkkmo 3y ago

If your daily commute has congestion (i.e. using it twice per workday), then the price drops to ~$5 per trip. If you live somewhere where you only experience highway congestion 25 times a year, you probably aren't the target market.

gnicholas 3y ago
This is true, but then each "trip" is reduced to the part of the commute that has sub-40 mph traffic. I guess that could be much of your commute if you're a poor schlub, but then what are the odds you can afford an S-Class Benz?
- SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
  That's an interesting way to think about it. For my city (Edmonton) it seems like if you're well off you're going to be living in a community in the city. It's the middle-class who are paying for a much larger home for a less convenient location.
  - gnicholas 3y ago
    This is in line with what I was trying to say. Basically, you might have a lousy long commute where this would be very valuable. But then you probably can't afford this car.
    - SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
      Ah, I got confused by the "I guess that could be much of your commute if you're a poor schlub" part, because I would assume they'd get up to highway speeds to end up wherever they live, whereas someone more well off wouldn't hit that.
- olyjohn 3y ago
  Where on earth do you sit in traffic that doesn't burst up above 40mph every now and then? It's called stop and go, not go consistently below 40mph. Sounds like this wasn't well thought out. In LA, you'd be in traffic going 80, then screech to a halt, then back up to 80. Even on my commute into Downtown Seattle where people drive slow as fuck, there were always openings between onramps where it was no problem to hit 40. That's such a low bar.
  - gnicholas 3y ago
    Yeah, I agree. This seems like it would be useful for stretches on 405, but not likely the bulk of a trip. Where I live, I could see it being useful for a decent chunk of 101, which could amount to 30 mins each way, each day. I wonder if it drops down into a less-capable driver-assist mode when the speed goes higher, such that you can still just monitor the system for nearly all of your trip. Or does it drop you out into full human-driving mode?
vericiab 3y ago
It depends on the climate where you live though, right? Where I am there's plenty of congestion. There's also plenty of rain, snow, slush, and road construction. The snow removal and construction really take a toll on the lane markings, so detectable lane markings isn't a guarantee either.

gnicholas 3y ago

This would be usable during rush hour on 101 going through SV, and in many parts of LA. Some people could use it 2x/day. However, those people are not likely to be able to afford an expensive new Mercedes, since super-high earners probably aren't the people going into the office every day. Also, people wealthy enough for an S-Class Benz probably don't live super far from the office, since they can afford to live pretty much anywhere.

tialaramex 3y ago
Some wealthy people like driving. An S-class is one reasonable thing you might purchase if you are wealthy but enjoy driving and would prefer to do more of it than (likely) is necessary or ordinarily appropriate for your station in life. It's a nice car, it's too expensive if you need to justify the price, but if you don't care about the price then why not? So if you like driving, then you might choose to live somewhere that's a "longer commute" even though you needn't - as this is part of your day which you enjoy. Now, that's probably not going to be bumper-to-bumper freeway traffic, but it absolutely might include country roads at limited speed - I said enjoys driving not racing, if you like track racing and have $$$ you can indulge that without owning a road car at all.
- gnicholas 3y ago
  Yes, some people enjoy driving. But this system requires a lead car. I don't know anyone who enjoys driving behind a lead car.
  - jdeibele 3y ago
    I do. I have a Bolt EUV and turn on SuperCruise (hands-off but only on divided freeways) when I can, adaptive cruise control when I can't. The car handles speeding up and slowing down for me based on what the car in front is doing. I just have to steer. I know that jumping lanes is not going to get me there much sooner but it's hard to resist "competing" to get there first.
- TedDoesntTalk 3y ago

SkyPuncher 3y ago

Wow. That's an insane limitation. My car with radar cruise and camera based lane centering: can go any speed, doesn't need a leader, handles terrible conditions (notably it sees better than I can during night time rain with glare from on-coming traffic), comes to a stop, starts from a stop, and handles some pretty crappy lane markings. It don't handle sharp corners and doesn't auto-drive. It does, however, take 90% of the effort out of the place I spend most of my driving time - highways.

shalmanese 3y ago
All of those features are also available on the EQS, this is an additional set of features on top of that.
turtlebits 3y ago
Being on the safe side isn't insane. Putting lives at risk with a "beta" self-driving vehicle is insane.