Mercedes offers Automatic Lane Change function for 15 Mercedes models from September 2024 in 33 European countries. This function will be installed over the air in around 200,000 cars already on the road.
The Automatic Lane Change function was introduced by Mercedes in the USA in 2023, and in China, there is a similar function developed locally by Mercedes China. The function will also be available in 33 European countries, including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, and the UK.
On which models is it available?
The Automatic Lane Change function will be activated over-the-air on the Mercedes E-Class, CLE Coupe and Cabrio, C-Class, S-Class, GLC, EQE/EQE SUV, and EQS/EQS SUV (versions modified after January 2023). There are around 200,000 cars in total, and customers will be informed about availability in their country. Installation is via the update assistant on the display of the MBUX infotainment system or via the Mercedes Me App. This function is added to the more than 40 assistance systems available on Mercedes models.
How does it work?
The driver selects the desired speed from the adaptive cruise control (Active Distance Assist Distronic). The Active Steering Assist function takes care of lane changes. When a Mercedes with Automatic Lane Change has set a driving speed of, for example, 130 km/h and a slower car is ahead, it automatically changes lanes, overtakes the slower car and then returns to the initial lane.
The same function can be used if a destination is entered in the navigation system and at some point the car needs to exit the motorway. Automatic Lane Change changes the lane for the vehicle to exit the motorway.
Overtaking is done safely because radar sensors and cameras monitor cars in the blind spot. But Automatic Lane Change is a Level 2 autonomous driving system, so the driver bears full responsibility for the maneuver.
Under what conditions does it work?
In Europe, Automatic Lane Change is active between 80 and 140 kph and several conditions must be met:
– the navigation system must recognize that you are driving on a motorway with at least two lanes in each direction
– road markings must be detected by cameras.
