MINNEAPOLIS — Self-driving cars may sound pretty cool, but 81 percent of American consumers have never been in one — and 93 percent of Americans have concerns about it — according to a Forbes Advisor poll out just this year.
But what are they actually like on the road? And why are some calling their widespread use "inevitable?"
“It's really not a technology problem anymore,” said Phil Magney, owner of VSI Labs headquartered in St. Louis Park. “It's all about how it's implemented.”
Magney has worked with several major car manufacturers testing self-driving technology for a decade. He believes autonomous driving will become standard in the future, but the current problem is getting past the liability bump.
“It’s going to be really interesting over the next 10 years [which companies] survive,” said Magney.
We wanted to see the best self-driving features a Minnesotan can purchase right now.
Industry experts all recommended three manufacturers: Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla.
2024 all-electric Cadillac Lyriq
MSRP for the Lyriq starts at $53,074 featuring big screens, bright colors, and Caddy comfort along with General Motors’ level 2 self-driving tech called Super Cruise.
“You'll be able to take your hands completely off the wheel and kind of take a break from the driving experience and just let the car do it for you,” said Ben Dando, new car sales manager at Morries Golden Valley Cadillac.
For now, Super Cruise only works on highways, using sensors, cameras and LiDAR-scanned map data to ensure you're staying in your lane. It will adjust to traffic speed and make lane changes for you.
Our drive was Cadillac-smooth, and engaging Super Cruise was one touch of a button on the steering wheel.
It’s quite accurate at staying in the center of the lane and adjusting to traffic speeds and turns.
It automatically disengaged a few times, kicking control back to the driver — once under an overpass, likely due to a GPS error, according to Dando, and once on a two-lane merge.
“Sometimes GM disengages it for certain portions of the road to ensure that any merging traffic, or things of that nature, doesn’t interfere with your ability to stay safe,” said Dando.
The vehicle also keeps an eye out for your eyes. If they stray from the road too long, Super Cruise will default control back to the driver with an alert saying they looked away for too long.
GM’s Super Cruise is available in six Cadillac models, the GMC Hummer EV and Chevrolet’s Bolt.
2024 Mercedes-Benz S580
This is the flagship vehicle of Mercedes-Benz, priced at $140,000 — and the manufacturer didn't cut any corners when it came to comfort. The vehicle is equipped with Mercedes-Benz’s assisted-driving Drive Pilot technology.
Last year, Mercedes became the first consumer car to breach Level 3 autonomy on the Society of Automotive Engineers 0-5 scale. This means the car will drive you without supervision from the driver. Level 3 Drive Pilot only works in highway traffic under 40 miles an hour, and it’s currently only available on major highways in California and Nevada.
Being in Minnesota, we were able to test Mercedes’ Level 2 features.
“It’s cooperative self-driving,” said Nick Griffin, new car manager with Sears Imported Autos. “You're going to be in control of the vehicle. The vehicle will have systems it can operate into itself, but you are still pushing buttons and paying attention to the road.”
This feature is similar to the Lyriq, but it can work on most roads and not just highways. It keeps you in lane and at speed, but it won't follow navigation directions or react to traffic lights. That's still on the driver.
“If it starts slowing down too much and sees an open lane, it'll recommend a lane change and just do it,” said Griffin during our test drive.
The self-drive experience was intuitive and reliable. Not once during our rush-hour test on 394 and 494 did the system disengage for any technical or decision-making error.
The assistance allows the driver to pay much less attention to the dangerous details of highway driving and comfortably breathe through the tumult (while getting a back massage).
2024 Tesla Model Y FSD
We asked Tesla if it wanted to participate in this story. We received no response from the corporate office’s press department.
Thankfully, Phil Magney of VSI Labs allowed us to sample his Model Y Long Range.
MSRP on Tesla's website is $47,990 for the all-wheel drive model. Purchasers have the option to include Full Self-Driving for $8,000 upfront, or they can subscribe to the software for $99 per month.
This SUV-ish Model Y lacked some of the luxury features of the Cadillac and Mercedes models we tested, but its single, centralized large screen and Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode were its "wow" factors.
“It's reconstructing the scene. It's using all its cameras to piece it all together,” said Magney as the screen showed a Matrix-like digital rendering of everything around us in real-time.
We asked the vehicle for directions to a location, pulled down the drive stalk once, and from there, the vehicle's software and AI systems will take over.
Traffic light signals, intersections, city roads and on-ramps, the vehicle handles the decisions and drives the car. The driver must keep their eyes on the road and nudge the steering wheel (when prompted) to maintain FSD mode.
“How’s it going to do with the roundabout?” I asked Magney as we approached one in self-drive mode. “This is a complex deal. Yield, enter, turn, and wow. It nailed it.”
The FSD experience was the closest we came to fully autonomous driving among the models we tested.
But its Super Vision still required some supervision.
During our half-hour test, the FSD went straight in a turn-only lane, failed to merge when other cars were in the way and didn’t know what to do once we reached our destination.
Overall, trying the latest self-driving features across brands gave me an appetizer of what’s possible in the near future and beyond.
Autonomous driving is the next major evolution in automobiles.
So, buckle up — it’s coming fast.