• Stellantis announced STLA AutoDrive, STLA Brain, and STLA Smart Cockpit
• STLA AutoDrive will be a Level 3 hands-free driver-assist system that won’t require the driver to watch the road
• STLA AutoDrive, STLA Brain, and STLA Smart Cockpit will arrive in 2025

Stellantis used its 2024 Investor Day briefing held last Thursday to announce next-generation technology platforms to roll out across its brands, which in the U.S. includes Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Alfa Romeo, and Fiat. The company said those platforms, STLA Brain, STLA SmartCockpit, and STLA AutoDrive, will combine to be the form for the automaker’s future tech stack.

Notably, STLA AutoDrive makes the automaker’s newly launched hands-free driver-assist system obsolete less than a year after its introduction.

The announcement comes with questions that Stellantis has yet to fully answer.

STLA AutoDrive is the company’s new hands-free driver-assist system. Stellantis said the system will feature both hands-free eyes-on-the-road and hands-free eyes-off-the-road functionality, making it a Level 3 driver-assist system.

To date, the only Level 3 hands-off eyes-off hands-free driver assist system on sale in the U.S. is Mercedes-Benz’s DrivePilot. It’s only available in specific EQS and S-Class models. GM’s Super Cruise and Ford’s BlueCruise systems are considered Level 2 hands-off driver assist systems, and both require the driver to watch the road.

Stellantis didn’t provide any technical information on how STLA AutoDrive works, where it works, how much it will cost, when or where the system will enable hands-off and eyes-off operation versus hands-off eyes-on operation, or the system’s features. It’s unknown which current and future vehicles will feature the system.

Stellantis quietly launched its rival to Super Cruise and BlueCruise called Hands-Free Active Driving Assist late in 2023. The system debuted without fanfare on the 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee and just became available in the 2025 Ram 1500. Stellantis has still not released a map showing which roads the map-driven system will and won’t work on, leaving consumers in the dark while ponying up for a $2,995 purchase.

A Stellantis spokesperson told Motor Authority, “Hands-Free Active Assist technology will continue to be available for a period of time as we rollout the STLA AutoDrive platform, an overlap that is typical of the launch of new technologies.”

Stellantis hasn’t said how long Hands-Free Active Driving-Assist will be supported or what will happen to the system in the long-term. STLA AutoDrive will be ready for production at the end of 2024 and arrive in cars in 2025. 

STLA AutoDrive will rely on STLA Brain, which will serve as the central hub for managing the vehicle’s electronics and software. The system integrates with on-board sensors and actuators while remaining connected with the cloud for over-the-air updates. Stellantis said STLA Brain will reduce the number of ECUs in a vehicle by half to approximately 60.

STLA SmartCockpit is powered by STLA Brain and is said to integrate the vehicle with owners’ lives. Machine learning and AI evolve the system and learn a user’s preferences with a personal profile that integrates with climate, navigation, entertainment, and control settings. The profile is linked to a mobile phone and will enable users’ profiles to immediately integrate with any vehicle with STLA Cockpit and STLA Brain. The interface will feature a simplified set of menus for fewer clicks when accessing features, according to Stellantis.

Like STLA AutoDrive, STLA Brain and STLA CockPit will enter production at the end of 2024 and the first vehicles to feature the tech will arrive in 2025, according to Stellantis.