This result surprised me. Quoted text is below. Link is below that. The new E-class hitting showrooms shortly has been trumpeted as having the most advanced technology. It has five cameras, five radars and 12 ultrasonic sensors - vs Tesla's current 1 camera, and one radar and 12 ultrasonic sensors. Despite this hardware superiority, Nick Jaynes writes yesterday in Mashable that Tesla's lane keeping is still more accurate and reliable than Mercedes. Those of you who recall the Car and Driver comparison test in February will remember that Tesla's first 7.0 Autopilot build had an error rate over 50% less than Mercedes' 2016 technology. Now we are discussing Mercedes' next-generation, much ballyooed semi-autonomous system about to hit the streets:
"With one eye on the road and another on a tiny green steering wheel icon emblazoned on the display in front of me, I watched as the all-new 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class drifted across the yellow lane marker. Just as the lefthand tires crested the line, the car proceeded to buzz the steering wheel to warn me, the driver, of an unsignaled lane departure.
"Oh, don't give me that," I hollered at the car, as I grabbed the wheel and jerked the mid-size luxury sedan back into the lane. "You're the one doing the steering!"
Now back in my lane with the Mercedes mostly keeping itself in check, my heart sank a bit.
I felt disheartened because Mercedes' new suite of semi-autonomous safety tech, Drive Pilot, simply didn't feel as robust as Tesla's Autopilot that I had tested on the very same stretch of freeways some eight months before.
During my test, the Model S was able not only able to stay planted within its lane, it also stayed almost perfectly centered in that lane. Comparatively, the E-Class struggled to even keep itself in a single lane — forget hopes of holding dead center."
"
On a straight, well-marked freeway, following traffic ahead, the system worked great. However, as soon as lane markings on either side became too hard to read or simply dropped away, Steering Pilot would cut out — sans warning.
Really, the only indication the car wasn't steering anymore was that the little steering wheel icon on the instrument display would go from green back to grey. If I didn't notice this because I was paying attention to the road ahead, like I am supposed to, I could suddenly and rapidly find the car drifting out of its lane. This happened to me several times over the two days I tested it."
Mercedes-Benz's 2017 E-Class won't let you nap behind the wheel
"With one eye on the road and another on a tiny green steering wheel icon emblazoned on the display in front of me, I watched as the all-new 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class drifted across the yellow lane marker. Just as the lefthand tires crested the line, the car proceeded to buzz the steering wheel to warn me, the driver, of an unsignaled lane departure.
"Oh, don't give me that," I hollered at the car, as I grabbed the wheel and jerked the mid-size luxury sedan back into the lane. "You're the one doing the steering!"
Now back in my lane with the Mercedes mostly keeping itself in check, my heart sank a bit.
I felt disheartened because Mercedes' new suite of semi-autonomous safety tech, Drive Pilot, simply didn't feel as robust as Tesla's Autopilot that I had tested on the very same stretch of freeways some eight months before.
During my test, the Model S was able not only able to stay planted within its lane, it also stayed almost perfectly centered in that lane. Comparatively, the E-Class struggled to even keep itself in a single lane — forget hopes of holding dead center."
"
On a straight, well-marked freeway, following traffic ahead, the system worked great. However, as soon as lane markings on either side became too hard to read or simply dropped away, Steering Pilot would cut out — sans warning.
Really, the only indication the car wasn't steering anymore was that the little steering wheel icon on the instrument display would go from green back to grey. If I didn't notice this because I was paying attention to the road ahead, like I am supposed to, I could suddenly and rapidly find the car drifting out of its lane. This happened to me several times over the two days I tested it."
Mercedes-Benz's 2017 E-Class won't let you nap behind the wheel
