What happened
Mercedes-Benz built Drive Pilot, an automated lane keeping system, for the S-Class and EQS. On 2 December 2021, the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA), Germany's federal motor transport authority, granted it the world's first type approval for such a system. That version worked only in traffic jams and dense traffic at up to 60 km/h. On 19 December 2024, TÜV Rheinland announced that the KBA had extended the approval to 95 km/h on motorways. TÜV Rheinland ran the approval tests for Mercedes-Benz as a technical service. Its engineers made static analyses and driving tests on test tracks and public roads. The tests covered functional safety, cybersecurity and data protection, with hazard and risk analyses. With the system on, the driver may turn to other things. When an alarm sounds, the driver must take over at once. If the driver does not respond, the car makes a controlled emergency stop. Neither the KBA nor TÜV Rheinland gives test results, and neither describes machine learning.
Sources
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Regulatory document, by authors with no tie to the system.
Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA, Federal Motor Transport Authority). KBA erteilt erste Genehmigung zum automatisierten Fahren. Press release no. 49/2021, Flensburg, 9 December 2021 (in German). It covers the first approval, at up to 60 km/h.
Das Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt hat am 2. Dezember 2021 die weltweit erste Typgenehmigung im Bereich des automatisierten Fahrens für ein automatisches Spurhaltesystem (Automated Lane Keeping System – ALKS) für ein Modell des Herstellers Mercedes-Benz erteilt.
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Press release, by an evaluator that the makers or users commissioned.
TÜV Rheinland. TÜV Rheinland: Mercedes-Benz erhält Genehmigung für hochautomatisiertes Fahren bis 95 km/h. Press release, Cologne, 19 December 2024, first paragraph (in German).
Nach Zulassungstests von TÜV Rheinland hat das Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) dem System Drive Pilot von Mercedes-Benz für die S-Klasse und den EQS eine erweiterte Typgenehmigung bis zu einer Geschwindigkeit von 95 km/h auf Autobahnen erteilt.
Details
AI system
- Workflow
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TÜV Rheinland engineers ran static analyses and driving tests on test tracks and public roads for the new version. The approval tests covered functional safety, cybersecurity and data protection, with hazard and risk analyses. Cameras, ultrasonic sensors, radars, a GPS antenna and a lidar collect data that the control unit analyzes in real time.
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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The system's conditions are met, such as driving in the right motorway lane, a vehicle ahead and an outside temperature above 4 degrees Celsius. The driver takes over at once when an alarm sounds, for example at an approaching construction site or where lane markings are missing.
Entry details
- Sector
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Road vehicle automated driving.
- Purpose
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Mercedes-Benz built Drive Pilot to take over driving on motorways under set conditions, so that the driver can turn to other things.
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Cite this record
Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). Germany approves Drive Pilot for automated motorway driving (AIBD-0954). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 1 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-0954.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 7.0)