The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union is urging U.S. auto safety regulators to deny a petition by General Motors to grant an exemption to Cruise, the automaker’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary, that would allow it to build its Origin AV…
Back in the scooter craze days of 2019, Bird was valued at a whopping $2.5 billion.
Arc is making a splash with investors as it wraps up deliveries of its limited edition $300,000 electric boat and eyes its next target: watersports. And, specifically the kind that require a wake. The Los Angeles-based electric boat startup, which desi…
Ford may have paused its plans to build a $3.5 billion EV battery factory with CATL, but it hasn’t relieved pressure from Republican U.S. lawmakers who are investigating the automaker’s agreement with the Chinese company. The probe, which w…
Luxury EV maker Lucid Group has opened its first international factory in Saudi Arabia, the home of its largest shareholder. The factory, located in Jeddah, will have initial capacity to assemble 5,000 Lucid vehicles annually, according to the company….
The day is finally here: There’s a self-driving car available for purchase in the US. Or, at least, there will be within the next few months. Mercedes-Benz is bringing its Drive Pilot-equipped cars to California and Nevada, and, when they’re deployed, you’ll not only be able to take your hands off the wheel but also take your eyes off the road.
Drive Pilot is the first proper SAE Level 3 autonomy system on the road, meaning when the car is driving itself you, the driver, aren’t even liable for the car’s behavior. That’s an impressive feat, but it’s one that comes with a lot of caveats. The biggest is that it only works at up to 40 mph, and even then only in clear weather conditions. You have to be on a highway that has been mapped by Here’s HD maps, and you must have a car ahead of you.
There are restrictions within the car, too. You can’t take a nap, can’t turn around and look at the people in the back seat (at least not for long), and, perhaps most frustrating, you still can’t use your phone. That’s a lot of can’t, sadly, but Mercedes-Benz promises this is just the beginning, with higher speeds and more flexible use-cases to come with time. What’s it like today? Check out our test drive to see.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mercedes-take-the-wheel-testing-drive-pilot-l3-autonomy-in-traffic-140038217.html?src=rss
Revolve Air, a travel wheelchair that can fold to cabin luggage size, is now available for pre-orders on Kickstarter at a cost of $4,999.
Time, as they say, is money. Mercedes-Benz is looking to put some time back in your pocket with the advent of its automated driving system that will let drivers stream a movie, text or talk to a passenger without watching the road ahead or having their…