Uber Allegedly Buys 100,000 S-Class Cars, Confusing Everyone

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Uber wants to eliminate drivers from its operation, but the ride-hailing service reportedly just purchased an armada’s worth of Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedans that don’t yet have fully autonomous capability.

On Friday, Reuters reported that sources at both companies told the German publication Manager Magazin that an order had been made by Uber for “at least” 100,000 S-Class vehicles.

The shelf price for that volume of Benz’s would be in the neighbourhood of $10 billion.

Another source emerged from the automotive industry to explain that Uber had been “shopping around” for a large number of autonomous cars.

Speaking last September, Uber founder Travis Kalanick touted autonomous driving technology and pledged that his company would use it to expand their business. Before news came of a possible bulk Benz purchase, Uber was reportedly spending billions of privately-raised dollars on the development of its self-driving plans.

Google, which is aggressively pursuing autonomous technology, owns a sub-seven percent stake in Uber.

If the reports of the Mercedes-Benz purchase are true, the sheer volume of vehicles means they won’t arrive at Uber’s doorstep all at once. But where will the self-driving technology come from? Mercedes-Benz already employs autonomous technology in its Intelligent Drive system to keep the vehicle in its own lane, avoid coming into contact with other vehicles, and apply emergency braking, but it doesn’t allow fully autonomous operation.

In 2013 the automaker staged a successful autonomous 103-kilometer road trip in Germany using an S500 research vehicle outfitted with existing hardware, albeit with much more of it.

If Uber has insider information about looming advances in autonomous technology from Mercedes-Benz, it isn’t saying. Hell, it’s not even confirming the purchase of the sedans. And even if the company was about to get its hands on a truly autonomous fleet, it would be up to U.S. regulators to give the go-ahead to operate them.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Advisory recently admitted that the computer controlling an autonomous vehicle could be legally considered its driver, but only if there was no way for an occupant to manipulate the vehicle’s controls. The NHTSA is also seeking to have federal rules regarding autonomous vehicles in place within six months, but that doesn’t mean a green light for road use.

[Image: Mercedes-Benz USA] [Sources: The Guardian; Bloomberg]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 46 comments
  • Ltd1983 Ltd1983 on Mar 21, 2016

    If we read the actual Reuter's story: "Earlier on Friday, Germany's Manager Magazin reported that Uber had placed an order for at least 100,000 Mercedes S-Class cars, citing sources at both companies. Another source familiar with the matter said no order had been placed with Mercedes-Benz. Daimler and Uber declined to comment." So the Reuter's story is basically saying the Manager Magazin article is probably incorrect, and yet all that TTAC or anyone else is reporting is the number from the article. Shameful clickbait "journalism".

  • Honda_lawn_art Honda_lawn_art on Mar 25, 2016

    Wow that's exciting. On a separate note, does anyone no of some property in Arizona I can buy?

  • Joe This is called a man in the middle attack and has been around for years. You can fall for this in a Starbucks as easily as when you’re charging your car. Nothing new here…
  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
Next