As Henry Ford is long quoted (or misquoted, depending on who you believe), “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster horses.’” But whether or not the old marketing chestnut is real, the 2024 Mercedes-Benz EQS and its available Drive Pilot Level 3 advanced driver assistance system prove that sometimes, customers have the right idea. Instead of faster horses, we’re on the cusp of horses that do the riding for us.
That’s because Drive Pilot is the first-ever hands-off, eyes-off active traffic jam assistant, allowing the person behind the wheel to hand over the reins entirely to the car. Suddenly, that arduous slog through freeway gridlock can now be used to scroll YouTube, read a good book, or play road trip games with passengers. Taking your eyes off the road to watch the latest ASMR videos might feel counterintuitive and reckless at first, but as I learned in a 50-minute highway drive between Santa Monica and Mid-Wilshire – an eight-mile jaunt, by the way – the Drive Pilot system effortlessly assuages any concern.
