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Mercedes-Benz S-Class INTELLIGENT DRIVE Drives Autonomously in the tracks of Bertha Benz

Stuttgart. When it sent its S 500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE research vehicle along a historic route in August 2013, Mercedes-Benz became the first motor manufacturer to demonstrate the feasibility of autonomous driving on both interurban and urban routes. The route in question, covering the 100 kilometres or so from Mannheim to Pforzheim, retraced that taken by motoring pioneer Bertha Benz exactly 125 years ago when she boldly set off on the very first long-distance drive. In the heavy traffic of the 21st century the self-driving S-Class had to deal autonomously with a number of highly complex situations - traffic lights, roundabouts, pedestrians, cyclists and trams. It should be noted that this trailblazing success was not achieved using extremely expensive special technology, but with the aid of near-production-standard technology, very similar to that already found in the new E and S-Class. The project thus marks a milestone along the way that leads from the self-propelled (automobile) to the self-driving (autonomous) vehicle.

In August 1888, Bertha Benz set off on her famous first long-distance automobile journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim. In doing so, the wife of Carl Benz demonstrated the suitability of the Benz patent motor car for everyday use and thus paved the way for the worldwide success of the automobile. Precisely 125 years later, in August 2013, Mercedes-Benz recorded a no less spectacular pioneering achievement following the same route. Developed on the basis of the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the S 500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE research vehicle autonomously covered the approximately 100 kilometres between Mannheim and Pforzheim. Yet, unlike Bertha Benz all those years ago, it did not have the road "all to itself", but had to negotiate dense traffic and complex traffic situations.

"This S-Class spells out where we're headed with "Intelligent Drive" and what tremendous potential there is in currently available technology," says Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chief Executive Officer of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. "Of course, it would have been a lot easier to take the autobahn for the autonomous drive from Mannheim to Pforzheim. But there was a special motivation for us to carry out this autonomous drive along this very route 125 years after Bertha Benz. After all, we wouldn't be Mercedes-Benz unless we set ourselves challenging goals and then went on to achieve them."