Mercedes with Turquoise Lights Drives Itself

The upcoming 2024 Mercedes-Benz models are set to introduce a new hip color: turquoise. This unique shade will serve a much more significant purpose than just adding a cool aesthetic to the vehicles. In fact, it will be used to indicate when the cars are moving autonomously, specifically in California and Nevada, where the use of Mercedes’s SAE Level 3 self-driving system technology, called Drive Pilot, has been approved for public roads.

The introduction of this technology will debut in California with the launch of the 2026 EQS sedan and S-class. The turquoise markers will be visible in the cars’ headlights, taillights, and on their side mirrors. Mercedes’s hope is to eventually make the use of turquoise signals a standard feature in self-driving vehicles globally.

Mercedes’s decision to use turquoise was driven by its visibility and distinctiveness from traditional vehicle lighting and traffic signals. The company also emphasized that this unique color will serve to signal to other road users, as well as to law enforcement, that the SAE Level 3 autonomous-driving system is active.

With the Drive Pilot system in place, drivers will be able to take their hands off the wheel and engage in “secondary activities” on the car’s infotainment display, such as sorting emails and online shopping. The system is designed to be operational at speeds of up to 40mph, with fail-safes in place to ensure the safety of the vehicle and its occupants in case of a system failure. Mercedes has integrated braking and steering systems to maintain control of the car until the driver regains control.