Advanced, Mercedes-Benz Approval For Autonomous Driving System Trials In Beijing

Drive Pilot system created by Mercedes-Benz. (Doc. Mercedes-Benz AG)

JAKARTA - Mercedes-Benz announced it had become the first car brand to get permission to test advanced autonomous vehicles in Beijing at a time when a number of its competitors tried to perfect the system.

The approval allows manufacturers to start advanced driving systems (ADAS) level 4 trials on Beijing highways and urban areas. This means that vehicles that have this system can carry out all driving tasks under certain conditions.

Reporting from Automotive News, Friday, August 9, several things will be tested, including when the car is parked, backwards, and turns left when the traffic is heavy without the driver's help.

With the tight competition in China's automotive industry, of course, a number of car manufacturers are competing to present vehicles with the best autonomous system so that they can have advantages over their competitors.

Tesla is working on bringing advanced driver assistance technology called Full Self Driving to China, and getting permission to test it in some areas in Shanghai.

Competitors such as General Motors have also received approval to test Cadillac cars with self-driving technology in Shanghai, China last year.

Not only vehicle manufacturers, technology companies such as Alphabet's Waymo and Baidu's Apollo Go are developing robotaxi as the future of mobility, testing driverless services on city streets including San Francisco, USA and Wuhan, China.

Currently, Chinese regulations allow ADAS level 2 technology on vehicles. Thus, manufacturers are allowed to present cars that can take over the steering, acceleration, and replacement without the help of the driver. However, drivers need to monitor the speed of the vehicle and keep on holding the steering wheel.

Mercedes-Benz currently offers Drive Pilots as a level 3 autonomous driving system approved in European territory and available as an option in Germany and parts of the US state.

This system allows cars to take control of driving functions under certain conditions, freeing drivers to do other things such as doing office work or answering short messages.