BMW says customers have driven more than 200 million kilometers hands-free with its Highway Assistant, underlining how quickly advanced driver assistance is moving from technology showcase to daily use on European motorways.
The German premium brand uses the milestone to position itself among the front-runners in an increasingly crowded field. Ford, Mercedes-Benz, and Tesla are already pushing different versions of assisted or automated driving in Europe, including Belgium.
More advanced systems
Stellantis is preparing its own Level 3-capable STLA AutoDrive technology, while brands such as DS and Peugeot are getting more advanced Level 2 systems.
Renault Group, by contrast, has taken a more cautious approach to passenger cars, focusing on Level 2 assistance while reserving higher levels of automation mainly for public-transport shuttles.
Competition is also coming from outside Europe. Geely has secured European certification for its G-ASD system, while BYD, Xpeng, and Nio are making advanced driver assistance a central part of their smart-EV identity.
Hyundai and Kia remain important Level 2 players, although their European systems are still closer to hands-on highway support than to BMW-style hands-free motorway driving.
The BMW Highway Assistant enables hands-free driving on suitable highways at up to 130 km/h. The system can take over steering, acceleration, and braking, and can support automated lane changes confirmed by the driver with a glance.
BMW says the function is already being used by customers in several model ranges, including the 5 Series, 7 Series, iX, X5, X6, X7, and XM, and will also feature in the new iX3.
According to BMW, the next generation of its driver assistance systems will significantly expand the European availability of the Highway Assistant from one country to more than 20.
Six countries to start
The new iX3 and later models, including the BMW i3 and 7 Series, will offer hands-free assisted driving on suitable routes in countries such as Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The UK, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal are expected to follow shortly, with Northern, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe coming later.
The wider rollout is made possible by approval under UN Regulation 171 for Driver Control Assistance Systems, or DCAS. This regulation provides a framework for advanced Level 2 systems that can assist with both lateral and longitudinal control while requiring the driver to remain attentive and responsible.
BMW says its system uses cameras, high-resolution maps, lane-detection redundancy, and driver monitoring to ensure that hands-free operation is only available in suitable conditions.
Level 2 driver assistance
That distinction is essential. BMW’s Highway Assistant is not autonomous driving. It is a Level 2 driver assistance system, which means the driver must keep watching the road and be ready to take over at all times.
A driver-facing camera monitors eye status, head movement, and attention. If the system detects that the driver needs to retake control, for example, when approaching a highway exit, it prompts the driver to put his hands back on the wheel.
Belgium is a relevant, but also demanding, market in this European race. Its dense motorway network, frequent exits, busy ring roads, and cross-border traffic make hands-free driving less of a long-distance cruise-control showcase. It is more of a real-world stress test for systems that must know when to assist and when to hand control back to the driver.
Full Self-Driving Supervised
Tesla has just received authorization to roll out its Full Self-Driving Supervised software in Belgium, after a testing phase in Flanders. Because approvals granted in one of Belgium’s three regions apply nationwide, the Belgian decision effectively opens the whole country to Tesla’s system. Belgium is the fifth EU country to allow FSD Supervised, after the Netherlands, Lithuania, Estonia, and Denmark.
However, Tesla’s system also remains a supervised driver assistance. Despite the Full Self-Driving name, the driver must remain attentive and responsible, and the system is not an eyes-off autonomous driving function.
Ford has arguably been broader in its hands-free motorway availability. Its BlueCruise system was approved by the European Commission for use across 15 European countries in 2024, including Belgium, and Ford has since expanded its European BlueCruise offer to more models.
Like BMW’s Highway Assistant, BlueCruise allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel in designated motorway sections, while an infrared camera checks that their eyes remain on the road.
Mercedes goes one step further
Mercedes-Benz occupies a different position. Its Drive Pilot is a Level 3 system, which means it can take over the driving task under defined conditions and allow the driver to look away until the system asks for control back.
In Europe, however, its use remains far more limited than Level 2 hands-free systems. Germany has approved the latest Drive Pilot version for conditionally automated driving up to 95 km/h on highways, making it one of the most advanced systems legally available, but only under strict conditions and in a narrow operating domain.
The European picture is therefore becoming more nuanced. BMW, Ford, and Tesla are competing in Level 2 hands-free or supervised driving, where the driver remains legally responsible and must stay engaged.
Mercedes-Benz has gone further in terms of technology and law with Level 3, but its system is less widely available and more restricted in everyday use. For Belgium, the arrival of these systems is not only a sign of technological progress, but also a test of how well assisted-driving functions can cope with one of Europe’s densest and most complex motorway environments.
