From Gemini

It’s a common point of confusion, but the "Levels" (SAE J3016) actually define legal liability and driver attention, not necessarily the technical "skill" or capability of the car.

1. The "Level" Catch: Responsibility vs. CapabilityTesla FSD (Level 2): It is "Supervised." This means the driver is always responsible and must pay attention. Because the driver is the safety net, Tesla allows the system to attempt almost any maneuver, anywhere—city streets, complex intersections, and high-speed highways.

Mercedes Drive Pilot (Level 3): It is "Conditional." In very specific moments, the car takes legal liability, and you can look away. However, to accept that liability, Mercedes has made the "sandbox" it plays in extremely small.

2. Mercedes Level 3 Limitations
While it's "hands-off, eyes-off," the Mercedes system is actually much more restricted than Tesla's:

Speed: It only works at speeds up to 40 mph (64 km/h). It’s essentially a "Traffic Jam Pilot."

Environment: It only functions on specific, pre-mapped highways (geofenced) in California and Nevada (as of early 2026). Weather/Time: It won't engage at night, in the rain, or in construction zones.

Dependencies: It usually requires a "lead vehicle" to follow; it can't navigate a route or make turns at intersections like Tesla can.

3. Waymo (Level 4)Waymo is a true "Robotaxi." There is no driver behind the wheel, but it is strictly geofenced to specific cities (like Phoenix or SF). You cannot buy a Waymo; it is a service, whereas Tesla and Mercedes are consumer products you can drive anywhere.

The "Zinger" Response:"It’s a bit of a marketing trick. Mercedes is 'Level 3' because they take the blame if it crashes, but it only works under 40 mph, on sunny days, on specific highways, while following another car. It can't turn at a stoplight or drive you to a grocery store.

Tesla is 'Level 2' because you are still the boss, but it can actually navigate from your driveway to your destination across almost any road in North America.

One is a highly restricted traffic-jam tool; the other is a broad AI driver that still needs a supervisor."

 

Hameed beat me. FSD is superior to both Waymo and Mercedes self driving, as mentioned it's a matter of law. And yes you are correct, Tesla's FSD is level 2, which means you have to be behind the wheel and ready to take over. And just to be clear, I don't think it's "perfect" as it still makes mistakes. In my case nothing dangerous, just changing a lane when it was unnecessary and sometimes waiting longer than it should to change lanes before an upcoming exit, although it seems last few updates have fixed that

 

We've got an appointment Saturday to drive a new Y. The whole self driving bells and whistles.
They don't have the Performance AWD we are wanting. So we are driving a Premium AWD which I'm sure auto drives the same. I'm interested in seeing if the self driving is worth that $99 a month.
She's the one taking it to work everyday 30+ miles in Chicago traffic though...so it might be worth it to her.

Next week we drive a Lucid.

 

Thank you. @Hameed .
That filled in some blanks for me.

 

Even with FSD, that would be a horrible commute for me. I'm not sure where you're coming from, but driving the 35 miles in from Naperville would take almost 2 hours some days. The train is less than 40 minutes consistently. I did drive a few times when I needed to go in during the early Covid days. I really enjoyed those drives, but it didn't last long.

 

We were in Lincoln park/Lakeview. Now just outside city limits (literally 2 blocks from Chicago proper) but the commute is city/town streets to 90 or 294 to 88/355 area to about 23mi each way.
With the construction going on (endlessly in chicagoland) on 290.294...I want to see how it handles all that. My M3 loyal brother has a Y Performance AWD and raves about it. But he's driving long straight flat FL roads.
My cousin is on his 2nd Model 3 and he goes from the border of IL/WI to downtown Chicago theater district area daily, in morning and evening traffic and wishes the car would 100% drive itself so he could sleep.
But also says that the car does great until some ******** changes lanes 6in in front of him and the car freaks out. (as it should)
He also said he gets warnings or citing's from Tesla for not paying attention? Or using the self driving feature wrong. I don't understand what he means or maybe misinterpreting what he's saying.

 

Basically there is a camera in the cabin that monitors your eyes to make sure you are paying attention. If you close your eyes or look away from the road too long (like being on your phone) you will get a warning on the screen to pay attention. You can relax, no issues with that, you just have to keep glancing at the road occasionally. I used it for my last trip to SoCal (over 1000 miles) and as long as I didn't look at my phone too long, it was fine

 

He made it seem like he was close to losing the ability to have the subscription.
Can Tesla take away your self driving feature if you cant stop making tiktoks or doom scrolling while its on? (we don't do this. so it wouldn't be an issue.)

 

Yes, if you ignore the warnings Tesla will first disable FSD until the next drive, if you continue to ignore the warnings than they can remove your FSD subscription. I believe you get three strikes before that happens

 

Unfortunately, I think Mercedes is rolling back on their current Level 3 system and instead is working with Nvidia on a completely new system.

 

Makes sense...Good to know.
I told the sales guy that I want to drive it for a few hours. Really put some time in it alone. Mostly because I don't want some sales clown "jawing" at me the entire time I'm driving.
But I also like to figure out intuitive of the design. From the looks of that car...I should be able to step in and figure it all out quick.
My only requirements were, It's gotta have the self driving feature. AWD. and Not have the steering wheel from my Dads old Piper Seneca! I want a rear wheel. I was assured it doesn't.

 

Here they let you have free reign of the car all to yourself. Since these are not sales guys in the traditional sense, you won't get hounded

 

tesla doesn't do ride alongs typically, although when i did my last test drive the guy said do you mind if i take you around the block with fsd to show how that all works, then you can take it out by yourself? i said sure, and that helped a lot to have a better idea of what to do when i took it out by myself. i was simply dumbfounded that the car would drive to the local supermarket, find a parking spot, and park.

oh and today was fun... had to take someone to do some errands and appointments. probably about 90mi. total. i think i drove myself about 50 yards of it.
my passenger is physically weak/unstable, so after lunch, i simply pressed 'summon' on my phone for the car to come from its parking spot right to where we were standing. he was amazed.
he has a tesla and signed up for fsd right when we got back to his place.

 

and i recommend just using voice for navigation. press voice button quick and release (long press starts grok voice), right side of steering wheel, and say "navigate to wrigley field" or whatever. you'll see it show on the map, the press "start full self driving" button on screen, or you can also strart by pressing in the right scroll wheel on the steering wheel.

oh and feel free to just call me on your drive if you wanna chat, need help, etc.

 

I just never want a sales person near me until the end. Which is why whenever I'm driving any car, I'm like... I'm going to drive it for a while. I will not be back anytime soon. Take my insurance info...whatever you need.
But don't expect me back for a while. Tesla seemed fine with it and from what you all are saying its the norm.
Lucid however was like. Yeah, you get 30 mins by yourself.