Car engineers know what level 1-5 is. Level 1 and 2 are basic assist - cruise control and the like. Level 3 is the car drives but the driver monitors everything for issues the car can't detect. 4 and 5 are you can go to sleep, 4 means there are some situations the car will wake you up and after you get a coffee (ie there is no need for instant take over) you drive, while 5 is the car will drive anything.
TL;DR: In levels 0-2 you are driving the car and the electronics are helping to manipulate the controls. In levels 3-5, you are handing over the responsibility to drive to the car. You do not need to babysit the car to make sure it's not trying to do something stupid.
My model 3 essentially does these things, although it does require you to keep your hands on the wheel (so not level 3 by definition), and I can say it makes extended highway driving a lot less painful on nice weather days.
There's a good chance that's what happens. Auto-braking (level 1) is likely to become standard, like anti-skid braking. Full automatic driving (levels 3-5) will be options. Semi-automatic steering (level 2) may disappear as the higher levels start to work. The shared responsibility between driver and control system is too messy at level 2.
My car has level 2 (ACC with steering) and I've found that the whole process is extremely stressful and hard for me. Initial problem was that I did not trust the car to actively steer, brake and accelerate while keeping me centered in the lane.
After a while that wore off but you still had to be hyper vigilant as the system can "fail" at any moment and you need to be in control immediately. I find it harder to do than regular driving as in level 2 you need to "drive" and pay attention to whether the system has stopped working properly or not.
It's an incredibly frustrating. I'm surprised people buy cars just for this capability. I love safety systems but this is just a disaster waiting to happen.
I think every Subaru shipped comes with Level 2 now? So for $23k or something, you can have a properly made car with lane keeping, traffic jam assist, adaptive cruise control, etc. etc. It won't turn at stop signs for you but feels much safer when considered with today's state of self-driving.
Car with level 2 autonomy, 2018 Volvo S90 with Pilot Assist. You still have to pay attention to the road when driving, but long highway drives (which I take a LOT of) are a hell of a lot less tiring. I've been able to do 6 hours in a single day and it's almost like riding a personal train except for when you get to jams, local roads, or merges/exits.
“Like related Level 2 driver-assistance systems, Mercedes' Level 3 technology handles driving speed, following distance, and steering. In the meantime, it keeps tabs on a preset route and traffic signs and signals. The system can also brake and/or maneuver to avoid potential situations.”
So, it reacts to traffic signs, and can change lanes to pass slower cars.
As I've said previously, this is just a marketing trick. It's not a technology breakthrough. It's a basic traffic jam assistant, which can be labeled as 'level 3', if Mercedes assumes liability. The conditions are limited to very low risk situations (low speed, straight highway, clear weather), which makes the expected cost of liability low.
Lies and overpromising. I can say with a brutally straight face that our 2024 base-model Subaru Impreza's Level 2 features are safer than my 2018 Model 3's Autopilot. Less unsafe disengagements, less yanking the wheel random directions on strange markings, no sun-based issues.
Yes, I believe they have an L2 but are working towards and L4. Google is still going straight for L5, which is the only case where you can fully remove the steering wheel. It's a huge bed, and a bit silly, honestly. I feel like at this point, they've definitely got L4 down.
L4 basically says the car can drive itself without attention in most cases. Driver only needs to take over in extreme cases where the computer can't figure it out (something on the road blocking, sever weather, super abnormal situation).
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