Question re DD Pro and Autonomous Driving

[RMSko]

Is the current hardware for DD Pro satisfactory for full autonomous driving? My gut is that it will need to be upgraded to at least the DD Pro 2 that is in the Gravity and maybe even that is not enough, but I don’t know enough about this topic to know for sure. Assuming it would require hardware upgrades and also assuming current Air models will NOT be able to be retrofitted, is the hands-free driving about as far as the current DD Pro can do or is there more that could be done with just software upgrades?

 

[Tâm]

Is the current hardware for DD Pro satisfactory for full autonomous driving? My gut is that it will need to be upgraded to at least the DD Pro 2 that is in the Gravity and maybe even that is not enough, but I don’t know enough about this topic to know for sure. Assuming it would require hardware upgrades and also assuming current Air models will NOT be able to be retrofitted, is the hands-free driving about as far as the current DD Pro can do or is there more that could be done with just software upgrades?

I am not an expert but this is my guess: the maximum level that current Air and Gravity hardware will be able to achieve is L3.

To go beyond that, you need some hardware like Nurio installed in a Lucid.

I don't think it's economical for Lucid to upgrade L3 to L4 hardware (It's ok to spend money do that on a test vehicle but not for a consumer one.)

 

[Bdr100]

I am not an expert but this is my guess: the maximum level that current Air and Gravity hardware will be able to achieve is L3.

To go beyond that, you need some hardware like Nurio installed in a Lucid.

I don't think it's economical for Lucid to upgrade L3 to L4 hardware (It's ok to spend money do that on a test vehicle but not for a consumer one.)

Lucid CEO mentioned in recent interview that with current DDPro 2 hardware on Gravity their goal was Level 3. Their eventual goal was to get to Level 4 on vehicles but that would not be possible with current hardware.

 

[Nunya]

Lucid CEO mentioned in recent interview that with current DDPro 2 hardware on Gravity their goal was Level 3. Their eventual goal was to get to Level 4 on vehicles but that would not be possible with current hardware.

Link? Did he actually say that last sentence?

 

[RMSko]

Lucid CEO mentioned in recent interview that with current DDPro 2 hardware on Gravity their goal was Level 3. Their eventual goal was to get to Level 4 on vehicles but that would not be possible with current hardware.

Would DD Pro also get to level 3 or just DD Pro 2?

 

[Bdr100]

I have had a hard time finding the interview I saw. From what I remember, he did not specify DDPro vs DDPro 2. He was talking in generalities like currently we have “hands off, but eyes on” but only on major highways and wanting to grow that to more roads, adding similar to Tesla FSD (eyes on) funcionality. He said something like ultimately wanting to get to “hands off, eyes off” essentially Level 4, “but that would require additional hardware.”

 

[Tâm]

Would DD Pro also get to level 3 or just DD Pro 2?

I don't know, but I think the principle is like this:

L2 requires a less powerful system than L3. To compensate for that weakness, it relies on humans to monitor driving conditions at all times and take over whenever necessary.

L3 requires a less powerful system than L4. To compensate for that weakness, it relies on strict conditions, such as Mercedes L3:

1) Geofenced in pre-mapped freeways
2) No construction zones allowed.
3) Daytime in good weather, not even rain, fog, snow... allowed. It has a wetness sensor that shuts down L3 when it detects wetness.
4) Slow speed (40mph in the USA)...

Thus, if DD Pro is weaker than DD Pro 2, it can still do L3 if it can add stricter conditions, such as a slower speed or requiring a leading car in front...

All L3 systems are not equal. BMW Personal Pilot L3 works at night, while Mercedes doesn't.

L3 means that when all required conditions are met, the system can drive on its own without humans. Still, there are times when the conditions are not met, such as when a dry day becomes a rainy one: The Mercedes L3 would then detect wetness and it would alert the human and hand the driving task over to a human.

I think the challenge for L3 is it might be too restrictive to be practical for a driver who wants its L3 to drive the legal speed of 85mph on State Highway 130 but it can only do 40mph!

However, even with strict restrictions, I think it's a welcome improvement over L2.

 

[RMSko]

I don't know, but I think the principle is like this:

L2 requires a less powerful system than L3. To compensate for that weakness, it relies on humans to monitor driving conditions at all times and take over whenever necessary.

L3 requires a less powerful system than L4. To compensate for that weakness, it relies on strict conditions, such as Mercedes L3:

1) Geofenced in pre-mapped freeways
2) No construction zones allowed.
3) Daytime in good weather, not even rain, fog, snow... allowed. It has a wetness sensor that shuts down L3 when it detects wetness.
4) Slow speed (40mph in the USA)...

Thus, if DD Pro is weaker than DD Pro 2, it can still do L3 if it can add stricter conditions, such as a slower speed or requiring a leading car in front...

All L3 systems are not equal. BMW Personal Pilot L3 works at night, while Mercedes doesn't.

L3 means that when all required conditions are met, the system can drive on its own without humans. Still, there are times when the conditions are not met, such as when a dry day becomes a rainy one: The Mercedes L3 would then detect wetness and it would alert the human and hand the driving task over to a human.

I think the challenge for L3 is it might be too restrictive to be practical for a driver who wants its L3 to drive the legal speed of 85mph on State Highway 130 but it can only do 40mph!

However, even with strict restrictions, I think it's a welcome improvement over L2.

Thanks, very helpful. I would assume with Lucid though, even if there was a 40 mph limit, it would not apply to highway driving that is currently permitted with hands free driving.

 

[Tâm]

Thanks, very helpful. I would assume with Lucid though, even if there was a 40 mph limit, it would not apply to highway driving that is currently permitted with hands free driving.

Currently, all available L3 are highways only, no city streets yet.

For those who drive in stop-and-go traffic every day on highways (downtown Los Angeles, San Francisco...) L3 with the restriction of 40mph is a Godsend! Very practical in that scenario, but not practical for a normal highway speed.

Lucid can now do hands-free on the highway, including stop-and-go traffic, but it's an L2: Humans have to dodge or brake for an obstacle on the road at any speed, high or low. That job can now belong to L3 because your eyes are off the road reading a newspaper, and you are not worried about a big piece of metal ramp debris in front of your lane.

Below is an L3 that applied brakes to a stop to avoid hitting a wooden pallet.

 

[raleighone]

I have had a hard time finding the interview I saw. From what I remember, he did not specify DDPro vs DDPro 2. He was talking in generalities like currently we have “hands off, but eyes on” but only on major highways and wanting to grow that to more roads, adding similar to Tesla FSD (eyes on) funcionality. He said something like ultimately wanting to get to “hands off, eyes off” essentially Level 4, “but that would require additional hardware.”

Hmm...you sure you're not thinking of that Rivian video discussing this because that's exactly the way RJ Scaringe was talking about their plan.

 

[Bdr100]

Who knows, I could be conflating the two interviews since I did see the Scaringe interview.

 

[Tâm]

Hmm...you sure you're not thinking of that Rivian video discussing this because that's exactly the way RJ Scaringe was talking about their plan.

Brew Markets on 9/23/2025:

“…I mean what we want to get to is that at some point we get to a level and we're actually working very extensively on that that you can not only take the hands off the steering wheel, you can actually take the eyes off the road as well which is then level level four because then it's really useful. You can you can read your emails and and those those kind of things while you're driving. So for commuting this is this is perfect. That's what we're also working on. So for us this is really we we re established ourselves as I would say the EV technology leader in the market and now our next frontier is really to do the same in the autonomy space.”

I haven't found any hardware information on getting to L3 and L4 for Lucid, except, of course, from Nuro.

 

[HC_79]

Brew Markets on 9/23/2025:

“…I mean what we want to get to is that at some point we get to a level and we're actually working very extensively on that that you can not only take the hands off the steering wheel, you can actually take the eyes off the road as well which is then level level four because then it's really useful. You can you can read your emails and and those those kind of things while you're driving. So for commuting this is this is perfect. That's what we're also working on. So for us this is really we we re established ourselves as I would say the EV technology leader in the market and now our next frontier is really to do the same in the autonomy space.”

I haven't found any hardware information on getting to L3 and L4 for Lucid, except, of course, from Nuro.

Hands off, eyes off can be L3 also. The driver just needs to take over when the car asks, its the whole concern with L3 because there's questions about whether a human would be able to respond quick enough \ gauge why the car is asking to take over before something nefarious happened.

 

[Tâm]

From today's announcement, it sounds like you need 2 NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor accelerated computers in future productions:

"To achieve L4, Lucid intends to leverage NVIDIA’s multi-sensor suite architecture, including cameras, radar, and lidar. Lucid intends to integrate two NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor accelerated computers, running on the safety-assessed NVIDIA DriveOS operating system, into its upcoming midsize lineup. This next-generation AI computing platform, with its centralized architecture and redundant processors, will unify all automated driving functions, enabling a seamless evolution through the autonomy spectrum. "

Lucid Motors

Generated by lucidmotors.com

media.lucidmotors.com

 

[HC_79]

From today's announcement, it sounds like you need 2 NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor accelerated computers in future productions:

"To achieve L4, Lucid intends to leverage NVIDIA’s multi-sensor suite architecture, including cameras, radar, and lidar. Lucid intends to integrate two NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor accelerated computers, running on the safety-assessed NVIDIA DriveOS operating system, into its upcoming midsize lineup. This next-generation AI computing platform, with its centralized architecture and redundant processors, will unify all automated driving functions, enabling a seamless evolution through the autonomy spectrum. "

Lucid Motors

Generated by lucidmotors.com

media.lucidmotors.com

The Gravity has 2 NVIDIA Drive AGX units installed already running Orin X. Orin X is capable of L4 autonomy but not sure if we’ll ever see it on the Gravity