Is the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class the world’s first car that can steer itself?

With this new Mercedes-Benz E-Class, the company is taking a big step into the future.  

The new Mercedes-Benz E-Class debuts several technical innovations, enabling safer driving on a new level of driving assistance systems.

Drive Pilot – semi-autonomous driving is here!

Where new technology used to be seen first in the flagship Mercedes S-Class range, new technology is now also being shown first in this new E-Class.

The Drive Pilot is Mercedes-Benz’s next step towards autonomous driving.  It is able to keep the car in front at a set distance (familiar with that from automated cruise control systems like Distronic) but can also follow the car in front by giving the driver steering input from the Steering Pilot.

The Active Lane-change Assistant is one example of why the company is calling it the most intelligent business sedan – this new high-tech feature assists the driver in steering into the selected lane, as if by magic.  For example, on multi-lane roads, when the driver has indicated a lane-change for at least 2 seconds, the car will assist with steering into the lane, and even checks the lane is not occupied before it moves across. 

Yes, the car that steers itself is here!

Digital Vehicle Key

No, not just a digital display on the key, but using NFC (Near Field Communication) familiar from smartphone connections, the driver’s smartphone can be used as the car key.

E designed to fall in line with C and S

Whereas the E-Class got its own twin round headlights look with the E-Class models from the 1970s and again in the 1990s, the E-Class now falls in line with the look of the C-Class and S-Class.  The new Mercedes-Benz E-Class shares the same sculpted rounded body appearance as its biggest and smallest sedans.  Perhaps E-Class could now be misidentified as a C-Class or S-Class… which can be a bad or a good thing.

Next level interior design

The E-Class interior is clearly based on the side-by-side large screen and waved horizontal centre dashboard as seen in the S-Class, but rather than 2 separate fitments, the E-Class uses 1 long glass cover across both screens.  It also gets the virtual (digital) instruments.  What’s new is the choice given to the driver of 3 different styles of instrument display:  Classic, Sport or Progressive.

Touch Controls

Multi-function steering wheel switches are old news by now, so Mercedes-Benz introduces the next advancement – like a smartphone interface, these “touch controls” on the steering wheel respond to horizontal and vertical swipe actions from the driver’s fingers.  This allows minimum distraction to the driver, allowing him/her to keep their “hands on the wheel, eyes on the road”.  This is the first time this super-safe method appears in a car.

New engine generation

At launch the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class will be available with a new engine generation.

The E200 will use a 2-litre turbo good for 135kW with 300Nm, and a low consumption of 5.9 l/100km and 132 g/km of emissions.  The E220d is a new 1950cc (rounded up to 2.0 litres) diesel engine with an amazingly low 3.9 l/100km and 102g/km, and 143kW with 400Nm of torque.  These will be available at market launch.

After the launch, further models will be added in the form of a 2-litre petrol-electric plug-in hybrid (you plug your car in to an electric connection to recharge the hybrid battery to drive on) called the E350e.  When driven mostly on the battery, the engine uses just 2.1 litres for every 100km, and a very green-friendly 49g/km of gases.

All models from launch will be equipped with the 9G-Tronic 9-speed automatic.

The range of engines will later include a new 4-cylinder diesel of 110kW, and petrol engines from 135 (the E200) to 180kW, plus a 6-cylinder 245kW engine.  The Mercedes-AMG E-Class models have not been announced yet, though do expect the Mercedes-AMG E63 with V8 turbo.