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It seems that eqs is first car to have level 3 autonomy. However it is not clear when drive pilot become available ? Is it subscription based? Any experience from real use?
It seems that eqs is first car to have level 3 autonomy. However it is not clear when drive pilot become available ? Is it subscription based? Any experience from real use?
Level 3 requires some additional hardware, so you need to order the car with the feature. It is not something that can be added later by software update or subscription.
As said above, Level 3 Drive Pilot requires a number of additional sensors etc. Among other things it requires a LIDAR array in the front, additional high precision GPS antenna on the roof, redundant steering rack, more onboard compute power etc., so the car needs to be ordered with the Drive Pilot preparation option. It cannot be retrofitted. The option is currently a no cost option, instead you pay for all the additional hardware via the $2500 annual subscription. In addition, it only works in states that have passed the necessary legislation to make it legal. So far I'm only aware of California and Nevada having passed such legislation. Also the speeds at which it works depends on the legislation as well. In Germany it now works at higher speeds, but I believe in the USA it's still limited to stop&go traffic and as said above, only on highways/interstates that are mapped and supported, so the places where it can be used are few and far in between. Frankly, you've gotta be spending 24x7 in stop&go traffic on supported roads to make the price tag even remotely worth it.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate DISTRONIC and Active Steering on long drives and in the occasional stop&go situation, but the day I don't wanna be driving my car anymore is when I need to take the bus. Fortunately, I don't have to commute and waste my days in stop&go traffic in the first place.
BTW, you can easily recognize an EQS that has support for Drive Pilot by looking at the front and notice the ugly LIDAR sensors. I have yet to see one on the roads anywhere.
Last edited by superswiss; Oct 21, 2025 at 04:38 AM.
I am not sure about that "high precision GPS antenna;" that doesn't make sense considering how the GPS system works. It is possible it is a redundant antenna or simply a better antenna than the one in the windshield. (I am not doubting superswiss, most likely this is coming from some marketing material from Mercedes.) The rest of the description of additional components required seems correct based on my discussions with dealer sales staff and research I did when I looked into it a couple of years ago.
The speed limitations and annual fee were a bit of a surprise - I knew about a possible subscription, but had no idea it would be that expensive. Too much really, as the only thing that might need updating is the map data, and that is already covered under another much lower cost subscription.
I am not sure about that "high precision GPS antenna;" that doesn't make sense considering how the GPS system works. It is possible it is a redundant antenna or simply a better antenna than the one in the windshield. (I am not doubting superswiss, most likely this is coming from some marketing material from Mercedes.) The rest of the description of additional components required seems correct based on my discussions with dealer sales staff and research I did when I looked into it a couple of years ago.
The speed limitations and annual fee were a bit of a surprise - I knew about a possible subscription, but had no idea it would be that expensive. Too much really, as the only thing that might need updating is the map data, and that is already covered under another much lower cost subscription.
Standard GPS is not precise enough to tell which lane the vehicle is in on a road. To get a higher precision, ground stations are used that know their exact GPS coordinates and broadcast an error correction signal. Basically they continuously compare their known coordinates to the GPS coordinates and broadcast the delta, so the high precision receiver can factor that in and correct the GPS signal to the a precise location down to the lane the vehicle is in. Self driving wouldn't work without it. Standard nav systems don't need to do this, so they use a simpler GPS receiver.
Here is a diagram of all the sensors for Drive Pilot. The high accuracy antenna array is on the back of the roof and actually creates a little hump in the roof when you look at the car.
Last edited by superswiss; Oct 22, 2025 at 03:51 PM.
Standard GPS is not precise enough to tell which lane the vehicle is in on a road. To get a higher precision, ground stations are used that know their exact GPS coordinates and broadcast an error correction signal. Basically they continuously compare their known coordinates to the GPS coordinates and broadcast the delta, so the high precision receiver can factor that in and correct the GPS signal to the a precise location down to the lane the vehicle is in. Self driving wouldn't work without it. Standard nav systems don't need to do this, so they use a simpler GPS receiver.
Here is a diagram of all the sensors for Drive Pilot. The high accuracy antenna array is on the back of the roof and actually creates a little hump in the roof when you look at the car.
Okay, so they are adding the DDGPS antenna. Since so many GPS units already have WAAS or DGPS already, I thought it was already there in the standard unit. Guess they just added the receivers and plugged it into the DGPS input....
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