In yet another joint venture, Mercedes-Benz and Tier 1 supplier Bosch have developed a joint project to develop AVs. The two companies recently launched trials of automated, highly-instrumented, S-Class vehicles in San Jose, California. Monitored by a safety driver, these vehicles travel between West San Jose and downtown, along San Carlos Street and Stevens Creek Boulevard. The trials aren’t open to the public, but are instead only open to a “select group of users.” They will use an app developed by Daimler Mobility AG to book a journey by the automated S-Class vehicles from a defined pick-up point to their destination. Bosch and Mercedes-Benz have been working together on autonomous solutions for over two years, with the goal of launching Level 4/5 production-ready vehicles that can be integrated into different vehicle types and models.

In 2017, San Jose was one of the first U.S. cities to invite private companies to carry out field tests of AVs in real-world conditions, and while California and other states continue to advance the law on AVs, the federal government does nothing.