(Credit: Mercedes-Benz)
Mercedes-Benz has received approval to display turquoise, exterior lights that will indicate when a car is driving itself.
For now, the carmaker can only use these lights in Nevada and California. In California, it got a permit to use them on test vehicles on highways for the next two years. Nevada issued a permit for Mercedes to test them on model year 2026 EQS and S-Class production vehicles.
(Credit: Mercedes-Benz )This comes after Mercedes got permission in January to sell vehicles with Level 3 autonomous capabilities in Nevada, followed by California in June.
The lights will be integrated into the front and rear lights as well as the two outside mirrors. The idea is to see how other drivers react on the road when they see a car that is driving itself, as well as to signal to law enforcement that a car is operating autonomously.
(Credit: Mercedes-Benz )"The more automated driving vehicles populate the road, the more important communication and interaction between the vehicle and the environment become," says Markus Schäfer, CTO, Development & Procurement.
Over time, Mercedes hopes that the lights will "substantially enhance public acceptance of automated driving and contribute to road safety, as the lights clearly visualize the automated driving system's status on the exterior."
According to Mercedes, the color turquoise was chosen because it's easy to see and identify and doesn't conflict with existing roadway and vehicle lighting. The goal is to make turquoise the standard light color for autonomous driving worldwide.
Mercedes will initially integrate the lights into vehicles with its Drive Pilot Level 3 autonomous driving system. The Drive Pilot software takes in information collected from exterior cameras, microphones, and LiDAR to learn its surroundings (like road wetness) and act accordingly. One current limitation: it only works up to 40mph.