Mercedes CLA in Chinese City Traffic
Autonomy in the Midst of Chaos
In Beijing, the Mercedes CLA drives autonomously in city traffic.
Mercedes-Benz
Despite stricter rules following a fatal Xiaomi accident, urban assistance remains in demand in China. Therefore, Mercedes is focusing on the next big step towards autopilot with the new CLA.
It's chaos once again in Shanghai's financial district. It's a quarter past closing time, and millions of office workers are stuck in traffic on their way home. And as if the sometimes eight-lane roads to the right of the Huangpu River weren't busy enough, thousands of scooters are zipping back and forth through the traffic, street vendors are selling takeaway dinners from their carts, and swarms of pedestrians are bustling on their way to buses and trains. Driving here is no fun for anyone.
Except for Gaolei Shi. The engineer is sitting in a Mercedes CLA a few months before its Chinese market launch, and the grin on his face is getting wider. While others struggle to keep track, with their pulse and stress levels rising, he leans back relaxed, holding the steering wheel with just his fingertips, and tests an assistance system here in the Pudong business district that aims to make the electric vehicle a city champion in China. "Navigation Assisted Driving" is the precursor to the autopilot that Mercedes is introducing with the CLA in China, aiming to take the fear out of even the wildest hustle and bustle.
While in Germany, Mercedes is focusing primarily on the Autobahn, unlocking their Drive Pilot for hands-free driving up to 95 km/h and thus outpacing the competition in Munich and Ingolstadt, the focus in Asia is on city traffic: "Here in the cities is where the action is," says Mercedes man Shi, "this is where people are most on the move and where they need the most support. The traffic between the metropolises, on the other hand, hardly interests the Chinese."
Mercedes' Navigation Offensive in China's Megacities
This brings Mercedes into an arena where, according to the conviction of many experts, alongside infotainment, digitalisation, and of course electrification, the fate of car manufacturers in China will be decided. Because where city traffic is more complex and often more chaotic than anywhere else in the world, where roads are layered on two or three levels and dozens of vehicle categories have to share the limited traffic space, support may be more necessary than on the German autobahn.
However, the developers' euphoria suffered a major setback in the spring when the much-praised Xiaomi SU7 crashed into a concrete barrier during a Level 2 drive at a construction site in March, killing three young people. Because the accident attracted great attention and sparked long discussions, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology tightened the reins, prohibiting manufacturers from making misleading marketing promises such as "self-driving", "autonomous driving", "intelligent driving", and "advanced intelligent driving" and also put a stop to the common practice of making customers beta testers and correcting errors with too many updates.
Shi and his colleagues also have to get used to new wording and have their system in the CLA approved for each city individually, which is why "Navigation Assisted Driving" is initially starting only in the most important dozen of the million metropolises and is being rolled out across the country step by step. But that does not detract from the impression the Mercedes man can make during the test drive in Shanghai: He enters his destination via voice command, starts the navigation, and activates the as-yet-unnamed Level2++ assistant as soon as he is on public ground - and from then on, he takes a break. Although he remains responsible, he must therefore keep his eyes on the road and occasionally put his hands briefly on the steering wheel. But the CLA takes over all driving tasks itself.
MB.OS takes the wheel
The electronics based on the new MB.OS operating system determine the speed, stop at the red light, start again at the green, maintain the distance, and choose the right course. While it looks like a hidden object picture on the navigation map and you can recognize all other road users, the coupé limousine brakes for pedestrians, avoids scooters and bikes, and politely makes room when the neighbour squeezes in front of the bonnet. Even turning left works, and not only at the green arrow but also unprotected in oncoming traffic. And when the navigation advises a U-turn, Shi's company car finds the right spot, makes a turn, and a few seconds later drives on the opposite lane. For this, MB.OS does not use any additional sensors or special HD maps. "Instead, the setup that we will install in every car is sufficient for us," says software chief Magnus Östberg, listing how the CLA sees its world: Four radars and a total of ten cameras behind the windshield, in the mirrors, at the front, and at the rear open the electronics' eyes and enable a 360-degree panorama that is wide enough to look into side streets at intersections.
Stopping, waiting, turning, accelerating, and merging again - all this works without risk and is now pleasantly harmonious. While the first prototypes one or two years ago were still overly cautious and as rule-abiding as learner drivers in an exam, the CLA now pushes a bit more assertively into traffic and thus forces its right of way. And it no longer lets everyone into the gap. A bit more fine-tuning, approvals for more than just the handful of Chinese metropolises so far, and maybe someday even personalisation or at least different profiles from 'defensive' to 'aggressive', from 'role model' to 'bully' - Shi and his colleagues are not quite finished yet. And then the businesspeople also have to get involved and somehow price the system. But Shi is confident that they will be ready for the market launch of the CLA by the end of the year in China.
This experience is not only being gathered by the electronic newcomer in Shanghai; the system will also be launched outside of China. The Germans have already received the green light for the USA, says Östberg, and also reports on discussions with the KBA, which are quite encouraging. 'Theoretically, we can do this in Stuttgart just as well as in Shanghai,' says Östberg, 'and everything we need for it, the new CLA already has on board.' All that's missing is the blessing of the authorities.
This article originally appeared on 12 May 2024 on automotiveit.eu and has been continuously updated since then.
