Mercedes to test autonomous vehicles at secure US Navy base

Mercedes-Benz is to begin testing its autonomous cars on a unique site in California, at the Contra Costa Transportation Authority Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS), the largest test bed site in the US. Since mid-September the company has also held an official licence, issued by California, to test self-driving vehicles on public roads. The additional testing opportunities provided by the CNWS site will enable the company to significantly expand the scope of its research activities. With a test ar
October 3, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
1685 Mercedes-Benz is to begin testing its autonomous cars on a unique site in California, at the Contra Costa Transportation Authority Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS), the largest test bed site in the US.

Since mid-September the company has also held an official licence, issued by California, to test self-driving vehicles on public roads. The additional testing opportunities provided by the CNWS site will enable the company to significantly expand the scope of its research activities.

With a test area covering 2,100 acres, the CNWS site is currently the largest and most secure test bed site in the US. It features a network of surfaced roads resembling an urban grid plan, making it an ideal location for testing autonomous vehicles in surroundings that are as close to real life as they can be. For security reasons the testing ground, which is operated by the US Navy in conjunction with the City of Concord and the Contra Costa County Transportation Authority, is not accessible to the public.

“We can use the test site in Concord, California to run simulation tests with self-driving vehicles in a secure way, including specific hazardous situations", explained Dr Axel Gern, head of autonomous driving at 5403 Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America, Inc. (MBRDNA). "Taken in conjunction with the results of our test drives on public roads, these tests will help us with the ongoing development of our autonomous cars." He emphasised, however, that the focus of research continues to lie in tests undertaken in a real-life environment.
Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • CES 2019 says hello to the future
    February 20, 2019
    The launch of the latest gadgets has made the Consumer Electronics Show into tech heaven for geeks worldwide – but there is a serious ITS component, too. Ben Spencer braves the bright lights of Las Vegas to find out more The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been the showcase for some of the world’s most iconic gadgets – from VCRs to the Commodore 64, and from the camcorder to the launch of HDTV. This has made CES a mecca for tech heads all over the world since it began in the 1960s, but these days it
    Read More
  • Daimler launches its ‘bus of the future’
    July 21, 2016
    Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz Future Bus made its first autonomous trip on a public road recently, when it was driven at speeds of up to 70 km/h on a section of a bus rapid transit route in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The 20 kilometre route, which links Schiphol Airport with the town of Haarlem, provided a challenge for the bus, with its numerous bends, tunnels and traffic signals. Although a driver was on board for safety reasons, for the most part the bus met the challenge autonomously, stopping at bus sto
    Read More
  • Q&A: Why has Almaviva bought Iteris?
    January 17, 2025
    US-based ITS sector veteran Iteris has been bought for $335m by Italian digital specialist Almaviva. But who exactly is the new owner and what does it want? Adam Hill finds out…
    Read More
  • Monitoring and transparency preserve enforcement's reputation
    July 30, 2012
    What can be done to preserve automated enforcement's reputation in the face of media and public criticism? Here, system manufacturers and suppliers talk about what they think are the most appropriate business models. Recent events in Italy only served to once again to push automated enforcement into the media spotlight. At the heart of the matter were the numerous alleged instances of local authorities and their contract suppliers of enforcement services colluding to illegally shorten amber signal phase tim
    Read More

Highlighted Content