Nissan Announces It Has Been Testing Autonomous Cars in Europe
Nissan is seriously committed to autonomous driving technology. The automaker has been conducting tests of its systems in its home country of Japan, as well as in the United States, but this week it was announced that they have also been taking the vehicles for a spin east of London. This is the first time that Nissan’s self-driving cars have taken the wheel in Europe.
According to Nissan, the tests were conducted with participants in the passenger seat and the rear seat to experience the feeling of being in a car with no one behind the wheel but a computer. The car made its way down the road thanks to laser scanners, millimeter wave radar, high-speed computer chips, cameras, and a specialized HMI (Human Machine Interface). The car was able to navigate not only highways but city streets and Europe’s infamous roundabouts.
“Innovation and ingenuity is at the heart of the Nissan brand and its people,” said Takao Asami, senior vice president, Research and Advanced Engineering at Nissan. “This test of Nissan’s forthcoming autonomous drive technology in the demanding conditions of London streets underlines our commitment to delivering Nissan Intelligent Mobility to our customers.”
British customers looking to take advantage of the self-driving technology will still have to wait a while for systems to be perfected and regulations to be in place, but Nissan was quick to remind them that the new Nissan Qashqai and Nissan Leaf are semi-autonomous. Equipped with the ProPILOT autonomous drive technology, these two vehicles can handle single-lane autonomous driving on England’s motorways. It will not be too long before our cars will be able to take us places while we relax in comfort.
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