Debuting on Japanese roads is the self-driving Nissan Leaf. The brand is officially bringing its autonomous-driving prototype, which features the Piloted Drive 1.0 out onto highways and city/urban roads. Nissan says that aside from Japan, the brand aims to put the the system to test overseas, in the near future.
Testing will be carried out in actual traffic conditions, so that the brand can further enhance its overall “Nissan Intelligent Driving” technology for public use. The road-going Leaf prototype features millimetre wave radar, laser scanners, cameras as well as high-speed computer chips and a Human Machine Interface (HMI).
Senior vice president of Nissan, Takao Asami said, “we at Nissan are setting clear goals and preparing for the implementation of piloted drive. The prototype that we’re introducing here today is proof of how close we are towards the realisation of this goal. Nissan aspires for a safe and trouble-free motoring future, and we plan on leading the industry in the implementation of piloted drive.”
Various innovative self-driving features are expected to be rolled out in stages. Stage one will see Piloted Drive 1.0 introduced in Japan by end 2016. Multiple lane piloted drive will follow in 2018 – this, allows for vehicles to change lanes on highways. By 2020, a more complete version of its autonomous tech will debut, where vehicles will be able to successfully manage city and urban roads, including intersections, on its own.
All three technologies, when combined, will subsequently form the greater Nissan Intelligent Driving technology. The Nissan IDS Concept, previewed at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, also gave us a glimpse of what Nissan’s mission for the future could materialise into.
Also, Nissan is upholding two corporate visions as its guiding path to its future goal. The first being “Zero Emission” which realises the company’s goal to do away with CO2 emission from Nissan vehicles. The second, “Zero Fatality” aims to put an end to traffic fatalities.
