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First Drive: The 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS450+ Is A Beautiful Electric Porpoise

I Don’t Know What To Do With All This Tech

My husband used to be a sales associate at a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Montreal, and he’s spent the entire duration of our marriage telling me that no automaker is as luxuriously high-tech as Mercedes. I have never discounted this observation. I’ve just also never felt the need to drive an extremely tech-heavy car. I still have a hard time dealing with a tiny infotainment screen.

So I think it’s probably a little bit of an understatement to say that the EQS’s offerings are a bit overwhelming. After I laughed out loud at the exterior, I also laughed out loud at the absolutely massive Hyperscreen. I wanted to ask it if it was compensating for something. I wanted to ask why such a cute fella needs such a big screen.

Functionally, the Hyperscreen is great. A single piece of curved glass, it’s a gorgeous feat of technological innovation that works with rapid speed due to an eight-core processor and 24 gigabytes of RAM. You tap on anything, and there’s not going to be lag. You’re immediately transported to the place you chose to go in the infotainment system.

The graphics are also gorgeous, but again, it’s a little bit Much. There’s a screen for the driver, one of the passenger, and a tall screen in the center, and in those latter two, you can access everything from radio controls to vehicle settings to satellite maps to photo galleries to video games. I did poke around the Tetris game and found it took a while to load but was otherwise fun. I still can’t imagine myself using an infotainment screen instead of my phone for gaming, though.

Even worse, you still get a lot of glare, despite the fact that Mercedes tried its best to avoid that. There’s not really anything you’re going to be able to do about the reflection of the sun when it’s especially bright.

You can also navigate with conversational commands after saying, “Hey Mercedes.” As in, you can say something like, “Hey Mercedes, I want coffee,” and your car will find you the nearest coffee spots. I used to hate voice commands because it was next to impossible to actually get what you were asking for, but this modern iteration that you see on luxury cars has really changed the game. I don’t have to think up the robotic command I’d need to change the radio station. I can just say it.

The digital dashboard was also one hell of a feature. You can cycle through tons of different displays, most of which are just mind boggling. You can literally have your navigation map displayed on your dashboard — and I don’t mean you get a little box that has navigation. The whole screen turns into a map. I’m sure some folks will enjoy it, but it was massively overwhelming for me.

As was the augmented reality navigation, which feels a little bit more video game-y than anything else. Maybe I’m just too old to appreciate these things.

The Verdict

It’s difficult to offer a verdict for a car that I can’t compare to the other vehicles in its class, I can say that the 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS450+ is a delightful vehicle that transforms much of what makes Mercedes special into a flagship luxury sedan — but it does feel like the German automaker couldn’t decide what it wanted to do. It tried to combine modern austerity with Benz’s traditional elegance, and it works… but it’s probably not going to work for everyone. It didn’t work for me, but it could very well work for you. And you know what? I respect a delightfully polarizing car.

Tesla’s Latest FSD Beta Doesn’t Seem Ready For Public Use, Which Raises Big Questions

What I like about this test is that it presents a very good mix of everyday, normal driving situations in an environment with a good mix of traffic density, road complexity, lighting conditions, road markings, and more. In short, reality, the same sort of entropy-heavy reality all of us live in and where we expect our machines to work.

There’s a lot that FSD does that’s impressive when you consider that this is an inert mass of steel and rubber and silicon that’s effectively driving on its own through a crowded city. We’ve come a long way since Stanley the Toureg finished the DARPA Challenge back in 2006, and there’s so much to be impressed by.

At the same time, this FSD beta proves to be a pretty shitty driver, at least in this extensive test session.

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Anyone arguing that FSD in its latest state drives better than a human is either delusional, high from the fumes of their own raw ardor for Elon Musk or needs to find better-driving humans to hang out with.

FSD drives in a confusing, indecisive way, making all kinds of peculiar snap decisions and generally being hard to read and predict to other drivers around them. Which is a real problem.

Drivers expect a certain baseline of behaviors and reactions from the cars around them. That means there’s not much that’s more dangerous to surrounding traffic than an unpredictable driver, which this machine very much is.

And that’s when it’s driving at least somewhat legally; there are several occasions in this video where traffic laws were actually broken, including two instances of the car attempting to drive the wrong way down a street and into oncoming traffic.

Nope, not great.

In the comments, many people have criticized Kyle, the driver/supervisor, for allowing the car to make terrible driving decisions instead of intervening. The reasoning for this ranges from simple Tesla-fan-rage to the need for disengagements to help the system learn, to concern that by not correcting the mistakes, Kyle is potentially putting people in danger.

They’re also noting that the software is very clearly unfinished and in a beta state, which, is pretty clearly true as well.

These are all reasonable points. Well, the people just knee-jerk shielding Elon’s Works from any scrutiny aren’t reasonable, but the other points are, and they bring up bigger issues.

Specifically, there’s the fundamental question about whether or not it makes sense to test an unfinished self-driving system on public roads, surrounded by people, in or out of other vehicles, that did not agree to participate in any sort of beta testing of any kind.

You could argue that a student driver is a human equivalent of beta testing our brain’s driving software, though when this is done in any official capacity, there’s a professional driving instructor in the car, sometimes with an auxiliary brake pedal, and the car is often marked with a big STUDENT DRIVER warning.

Image for article titled Tesla's Latest FSD Beta Doesn't Seem Ready For Public Use, Which Raises Big Questions — Image: JDT/Tesla/YouTUbe

I’ve proposed the idea of some kind of warning lamp for cars under machine control, and I still think that’s not a bad idea, especially during the transition era we find ourselves in.

Of course, in many states, you can teach your kid to drive on your own without any special permits. That context is quite similar to FSD beta drivers since they don’t have any special training beyond a regular driver’s license (and no, Tesla’s silly Safety Score does not count as special training).

In both cases, you’re dealing with an unsure driver who may not make good decisions, and you may need to take over at a moment’s notice. On an FSD-equipped Tesla (or really any L2-equipped car), taking over should be easy, in that your hands and other limbs should be in position on the car’s controls, ready to take over.

In the case of driving with a kid, this is less easy, though still possible. I know because I was once teaching a girlfriend of the time how to drive and had to take control of a manual old Beetle from the passenger seat. You can do it, but I don’t recommend it.

Of course, when you’re teaching an uncertain human, you’re always very, very aware of the situation and nothing about it would give you a sense of false confidence that could allow your attention to waver. This is a huge problem with Level 2 semi-automated systems, though, and one I’ve discussed at length before.

As far as whether or not the FSB beta needs driver intervention to “learn” about all the dumb things it did wrong, I’m not entirely sure this is true. Tesla has mentioned the ability to learn in “shadow mode” which would eliminate the need for FSD to be active to learn driving behaviors by example.

As far as Kyle’s willingness to let FSD beta make its bad decisions, sure, there are safety risks, but it’s also valuable to see what it does to give an accurate sense of just what the system is capable of. He always stepped in before things got too bad, but I absolutely get that this in no way represents safe driving.

At the same time, showing where the system fails helps users of FSD have a better sense of the capabilities of what they’re using so they can attempt to understand how vigilant they must be.

This is all really tricky, and I’m not sure yet of the best practice solution here.

This also brings up the question of whether Tesla’s goals make sense in regard to what’s known as their Operational Design Domain (ODD), which is just a fancy way of saying “where should I use this?”

Tesla has no restrictions on their ODD, as referenced in this tweet:

This raises a really good point: should Tesla define some sort of ODD?

I get that their end goal is Level 5 full, anywhere, anytime autonomy, a goal that I think is kind of absurd. Full Level 5 is decades and decades away. If Tesla freaks are going to accuse me of literally having blood on my hands for allegedly delaying, somehow, the progress of autonomous driving, then you’d think the smartest move would be to restrict the ODD to areas where the system is known to work better (highways, etc) to allow for more automated deployment sooner.

That would make the goal more Level 4 than 5, but the result would be, hopefully, safer automated vehicle operation, and, eventually, safer driving for everyone.

Trying to make an automated vehicle work everywhere in any condition is an absolutely monumental task, and there’s still so so much work to do. Level 5 systems are probably decades away, at best. Restricted ODD systems may be able to be deployed much sooner, and maybe Tesla should be considering doing that, just like many other AV companies (Waymo, Argo, and so on) are doing.

We’re still in a very early transition period on this path to autonomy, however that turns out. Videos like these, that show real-world behavior of such systems, problems and all, are very valuable, even if we’re still not sure on the ethics of making them.

All I know is that now is the time to question everything, so don’t get bullied by anyone.

The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Fails The Moose Test

Teknikens Värld blamed the Mustang’s electronic stability control for the failure, saying it was too slow to react and didn’t rein in the crossover’s tail end aggressively enough. Their article sums up the test as “clearly deficient and therefore not approved.”

The Mach-E used for the test was an AWD Long Range model, equipped with OEM tires. It’s unclear what, if any, effect the optional summer tires offered by Ford would have on the test.

Pictured: a Mustang Mach-E, dodging a moose

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While “a moose walks into the road” may seem like a niche test case for many American drivers, it’s an important circumstance to consider in colder climates. Moose aren’t the deer we’re used to seeing by the side of the road — they’re bigger, heavier, and accidents that involve them are more often fatal.

Ford has already promised to update the software on future Mach-E models to increase range, so it’s possible future model years could also come with a more aggressive ESC. Until we find out one way or another, though, owners of the Mustang EV should try to watch out for moose.

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What’s The Car That Made You Think Horsepower Was Too Accessible?

Some of the most universally appreciated cars in car culture have a few things in common. Usually a good car has an excellent chassis, great steering feel, and an engine that allows you to wring its neck without breaking the speed limit. I’ve got things in mind like Mazda’s MX-5, the Lotus Elise, air-cooled Porsche 911s, an E36-generation BMW M3 and maybe like AE86 Corollas, right? Well, now we live in a world where 700 horsepower and 4,000 pound curb weights are normal, which is pretty much the opposite of what makes those cars great.

In the mid-1990s performance cars were pretty great. Corvettes had around 400 horses, Mustangs topped out around 300, and the really good stuff was in the mid 100s. Then came the 2000s, and we went from a land of plenty to horsepower overload seemingly overnight. Heck, I remember Hot Rod Magazine marveling at the 300 horses available in Subaru STIs and Mustang Cobras, but just five years later Nissan launched a V6 Maxima with the same.

The horsepower wars already had a full head of steam by 2006 when the Caliber SRT4 was introduced at the Chicago Auto Show, but this thing really kicked it into overdrive. With 285 front-wheel horsepower, this was a torque-steer machine that was ready to rip your arms off at the elbow if you even hinted at the throttle. It was a truly terrible machine built from low-quality materials and wrapped in an atrocious design, but what it lacked everywhere else it made up for in price and power. At $23,350 this was an attainable rocket ship for all the worst people who still live in their hometown.

We probably should have dialed it back over a decade ago, but the horsepower wars, like the war on drugs, is a never-ending war with no winners. Now electric machines are touting power levels in the thousands, and Porsche just launched an SUV that runs 11s in the quarter mile and Tesla has a sedan that’ll do it in the 9s! What’s the point?

We now live in a world where you can’t buy a manual transmission in a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, or a Corvette, or a Porsche 911 Turbo. We’ve traded driver engagement for Nurburgring lap times and statistics on paper. Everything has electric power assisted steering. Everything weighs multiple tons. I’ve been spiraling down the drain of speed apathy for years, but the car that really kicked it off, the one that started this whole phlegmatic approach to horsepower, was the Goddamned Caliber SRT4.

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Which one did it for you? Were you early to the party, turned off by the C5 Corvette Z06, or are you a Johnny Come Lately that didn’t really join the club until the Hellcats took over? Or are you still shouting YEEHAW at the top of your lungs every time you see a bigger number, and won’t be satisfied until every car has enough power to move mountains? Tell me about it in the comments below.

Tesla Never Really Had Its Heart In The $35,000 Model 3

I’m old enough to remember when the Tesla Model 3 was supposed to be the affordable Tesla, the one that costs “only” $35,000, except we only ever really saw the $35,000 Model 3 in fits and starts. Now it looks as if Tesla might soon be moving on from the $35,000 Model 3 for good.

First, I must share that today I personally enjoyed reading the headlines and time stamps on the following two Jalopnik stories from last year:

Real roller coaster of emotions there. The thing is, the $35,000 Model 3 did eventually appear, though later you had to order it in person at a dealership or call — Tesla sold it online only for a brief bit. That Model 3 was a $38,000 Model 3 but “software-limited” to get its price down to $35,000. Some people bought it this way, but when companies start making it actively harder to buy a product it’s a sure sign that said product’s days are probably numbered. That is possibly, in the case of the $35,000 Model 3, because Tesla could be selling it at a loss.

All of which is to say, according to Electrek, the $35,000 Model 3 might soon be a thing of the past.

Sources familiar with the matter told Electrek that Tesla informed its staff that they weren’t allowed to “downgrade” new 2021 Model 3 vehicles to “Standard Range” and sell them for $35,000.

They are still allowed to software-limit features on 2020 Model 3 Standard Range Plus vehicles that are still in inventory and sell those to customers as Model 3 Standard Range for $35,000, but not the new 2021 Model 3, which comes with new features.

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Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk acknowledged that its cars aren’t affordable enough — implicitly including the $35,000 Model 3—saying that it was working on an even cheaper model, a $25,000 compact. Which is still a fair amount of money considering that Tesla buyers no longer get the $7,500 federal tax credit but it is, you know, a start.

It also allows us to move on from the idea that a $35,000 Model 3 was ever particularly affordable in the first place, or that a $35,000 Model 3 would even be particularly desirable, as software-limited as it ended up being. Because if you’re getting a Tesla without all the tech you’re kind of defeating the purpose of getting a Tesla at all.

That means that a $25,000 Tesla with most or all of Tesla’s tech would be a big step forward. But as we’ve learned with Tesla, we’ll just have to watch and wait.

I emailed Tesla for comment and will update this blog if I get a response.

RWD Taycan Promises Better Range, Lower Price

Thanks to Elektrek for the find.

If a mild sacrifice in performance doesn’t dissuade you from Taycan ownership, the latest model sibling may tempt you. The Taycan base model, though lacking a driven front axle and the warp-drive function of the Taycan Turbo S, does offer significant savings and better fuel economy.

Just announced yesterday by Porsche China, the rear-wheel drive Taycan is currently Porsche’s EV with the greatest range. One charge will carry the rear-wheel drive Taycan—one equipped with the range-extending Performance Battery Plus option—an impressive 303 miles according to the NEDC, though their leniency might mean a slightly shorter range in the eyes of the EPA. Nevertheless, whatever adjustment that might entail would still yield a practical car that, due to its lower price, might be more than a weekend toy for the uber wealthy.

Crucially, an estimated price of $80,000 puts this version of the Taycan in a position to compete. For many seeking a stylish, environmentally friendly sedan to travel comfortably in, this car provides a more complete package than Tesla’s Modes S does. Interior, exterior, fit and finish—all are heads and shoulders above what the American manufacturer can currently muster. To their credit, they’re an incredibly young company. Nevertheless, these are the areas in which a comfortable car is judged, and Porsche’s quality could make the difference.

The unique Frozenberry paint—it’s just gorgeous. Tesla, eat your heart out.

That drop in price means it loses some of Turbo S’ presence, the kind that turns heads on Rodeo Drive, but that doesn’t mean the base Taycan is the unfortunate one in the family. In fact, it doesn’t differ too much from the other versions, and its black-anodized calipers give it a more respectable appearance. For a sedan of this sort, smaller 19″ wheels and a muted undercarriage work better, don’t they? Neon calipers and the bling-bling footwear seem out of place on a respectable sedan such as this—like how a pair of flashy basketball sneakers clash with a nicely tailored suit.

Features

Rear-wheel drive with a permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM)
Two-speed transmission
Steel-spring suspension (adaptive air suspension optional)
19-inch Taycan Aero wheels (20-inch and 21-inch wheels optional)
Head-up display optional
Up to 350 kW (476 PS)
0-100 km/h: 5.4 s
Top speed: 230 km/h
Battery gross capacity: 79.2 kWh (Standard) or 93.4 kWh (Performance Battery Plus)
Charging power: up to 270 kW (RoW)
22 kW AC charger available
Range in China: up to 489 km (NEDC)

The real head turner is the drop in power, but for a vehicle of this sort, is 650 really appreciated? Yes, the ability to walk GT-Rs and Corvettes from stoplight to stoplight is an appealing point of the Taycan Turbo S, undoubtedly, but it cannot dominate the driving experience. Once the American Graffiti antics get dull and the adults go back to acting respectably, doesn’t 480 horsepower seem more than enough?

Whether Americans will get a chance to answer that question firsthand is still uncertain. As of now, the RWD Taycan isn’t officially headed for U.S. shores. Let’s just hope this is a marketing tactic.