Just three years ago, autonomous cars seemed like a pipe dream relegated to a far-off decade in the future. But then, last week, Ford announced that in 2021 it's planning to release an autonomous car without a steering wheel, brake or throttle pedals, designed for ride-sharing. Just a few days later, Volvo and Uber made public their partnership to develop a driverless car. Now, it seems autonomous cars aren't just a fanciful future prospect but rather something tangible -- and a real part of mobility in the near future. The Ford and Volvo/Uber announcements, though, highlight the different approaches each company working on autonomous driving technology is taking. For example, some, like Audi, are introducing autonomous systems slowly into their products to indoctrinate their buyers to the tech.

Fully self-driving cars are still a few years away, but Mercedes-Benz makes a leap forward with features in the new 2017 E-Class, its midsize luxury sedan and one of its best-selling models. All the basic stuff you'd expect in a German luxury car is there, such as adaptive cruise control, plenty of airbags, and the system that helps protect passengers if the car determines an accident is imminent, tightening seat belts and aggressively braking the car. This feature includes a lane change feature. Once you've set the cruise control, you can use the turn signals to make the car change lanes without your intervention. It will make the change as long as the car doesn't detect a vehicle in the adjacent lane or one approaching at a high rate of speed, which it can determine using its long-range rear-facing radar.

With one eye on the road and another on a tiny green steering wheel icon emblazoned on the display in front of me, I watched as the all-new 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class drifted across the yellow lane marker. Just as the lefthand tires crested the line, the car proceeded to buzz the steering wheel to warn me, the driver, of an unsignaled lane departure. "Oh, don't give me that," I hollered at the car, as I grabbed the wheel and jerked the mid-size luxury sedan back into the lane. Now back in my lane with the Mercedes mostly keeping itself in check, my heart sank a bit. I felt disheartened because Mercedes' new suite of semi-autonomous safety tech, Drive Pilot, simply didn't feel as robust as Tesla's Autopilot that I had tested on the very same stretch of freeways some eight months before. During my test, the Model S was able not only able to stay planted within its lane, it also stayed almost perfectly centered in that lane.

Mercedes-Benz revealed Monday morning that it will be bringing its E400 4MATIC Wagon to the U.S. for the 2017 model year. This is exciting because it's not just another SUV for luxury buyers to choose from, however, it's even more interesting because the all-new E-Class on which this Wagon is based is the most connected car in the world. Brands like Tesla and Volvo are rolling out increasingly more semi-autonomous, connected cars. So is Mercedes -- but it's taking connectivity one step further. Along with one of the most robust semi-autonomous driving systems, called DRIVE PILOT (I'm not yelling, that's Mercedes' capitalized branding for the tech), the E-Class also offers Car-to-X communication.