Mercedes, Cadillac Will Soon Offer Hands-Free Daily Driving

By Jake Lingeman On 3/8/23 at 4:53 PM EST

General Motors is upgrading its Super Cruise advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) with a new technology suite. The newest version, called Ultra Cruise, consist of 20 separate radar, LiDAR, camera and ultrasonic sensors. The company says it is designed to "ultimately enable hands-free driving in 95 percent of all driving scenarios" when it launches on the electric Celestiq super luxury car.

With the news that Mercedes-Benz is debuting a Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Level 3 hands-free system later this year, the race toward autonomous driving is heating up considerably.

GM started with Super Cruise on the Cadillac Escalade, an SAE Level 2 system that works on many pre-mapped highways in the U.S. and Canada, but requires the driver to keep their eyes on the road at all times. It says it wants to bring this system to more customers at more price points.

Super Cruise can be used hands-off for extended periods of time. However, all Level 2 systems are considered hands-on systems where the driver is required to be ready to take over frequently, even on highways.

The Cadillac Celestiq will be the first to come with the company's next-gen Ultra Cruise system. General Motors

The new Mercedes Level 3 system goes a step further and will be the first such feature in U.S. Once the system, called Drive Pilot, has taken over, the driver is not considered to be driving and can take their eyes off the road. They are still required to take over if requested by the vehicle.

The new Genteral Motors Ultra Cruise system consists of six parts. The driver attention system camera is on the top of the steering column and monitors the driver's head position and eyes in relation to the road. The compute platform is the brain and the physical hardware that enables Ultra Cruise. The platform is made by American semiconductor company Qualcomm Technologies.

Vehicles will feature seven high-definition long-range cameras on the front, corners, back and sides of the vehicle, detecting traffic signs and lights, cars and pedestrians. Short-range radars, placed at the corners of the vehicle, can sense people and vehicles up to 295 feet in every direction. It will also feature three long-range radars for adaptive cruise control speeds and lane changes.

Finally, a LiDAR (light detection and ranging) system, located behind the windshield produces, a three-dimensional view, which can detect objects and road features like lane markings even in bad weather.

"Having used Super Cruise myself and experienced just how well, reliable, and safe this technology works (including in hellacious rush hour traffic), I'm very excited to see GM take things to the next level with Ultra Cruise. Packing an arsenal of twenty plus sensors along with all the accompanying upgraded software and hardware means the convenience of going truly hands-free, now extends beyond the highway," Robby DeGraff, product and consumer insights analyst for AutoPacific told Newsweek.

"But we'll have to patiently wait though, however, until more affordable models in the GM wheelhouse offer Ultra Cruise. Cadillac's six-figure flagship Celestiq gets the honors of debuting it first."

Mercedes-Benz EQS Sedan — Mercedes-Benz will be the world’s first automotive company to certify SAE Level 3 system for U.S. market. Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes too will use a LiDAR system on its 2024 Mercedes-Benz S-Class and EQS Sedan models when they go on sale in the second half of 2023. In January, the company was authorized let its Level 3 assisted driving vehicles on the road in Nevada. It's filing paperwork for the same level of testing in California.

The Mercedes Drive Pilot system will allow the driver to hand over driving to the vehicle under certain conditions at speeds of up to 40 mph through buttons on the steering wheel.

The system will tell the driver if it's ready and the vehicle will control the speed and distance between vehicles, and stay within its lane. It also sees and reacts to traffic and road signs and can make evasive maneuvers when necessary.

In addition to LiDAR, Mercedes uses a camera in the rear window and microphones for detecting emergency vehicles, along with sensors for detecting road conditions. The vehicles have redundant steering, braking and electrical system, so that it could still be controlled if one of the systems fail. Mercedes also uses a high-precision positioning map that constantly updated and has a three-dimensional map of the road and surroundings.