Nissan to bring real-world autonomous driving tests to British streets
It’s not just Volvo which is planning real-world demonstrations of autonomous driving cars – see here. Nissan is also planning to test self-driving cars out on our streets next month.
Showcasing next-generation technology using the Nissan Leaf, the on-road demonstrations will take place in London, enabling the vehicles and their passengers to cover a diverse city environment.
Passengers, including government officials and technical and safety experts (but not the general public), will be given the opportunity to experience and test the technology in a live environment in a modified Nissan LEAF.
These will be the first demonstrations of Nissan’s autonomous drive technology on public roads in Europe, representing the next step in Nissan’s Intelligent Mobility blueprint for transforming how cars are driven, powered, and integrated into wider society.
It follows recent announcements that both the refreshed Qashqai and the new LEAF, both coming soon, will be equipped with autonomous drive technology to enable single lane autonomous driving on motorways.
The announcement was made following a visit to the Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE) in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, by the Rt Hon Greg Clark, the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
NTCE, the European R&D hub for Nissan, is developing autonomous drive technologies as well as new advanced fuel, energy and efficiency technologies, in collaboration with the Nissan Technical Centre and Advanced Technical Centre in Japan.
Says Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark:
“Government and industry are working together to build on our world class reputation for excellence as a leading location for automotive R&D and manufacturing. We want to see centres, like Nissan’s here in Cranfield, continue to develop, making us a world leader in the development and testing of auto technology”
