Nissan recently tested its latest autonomous drive technology on public roads in east London, the first of such tests conducted by the company in Europe. They follow on from public similar road tests in the United States and Japan. During the tests, participants located in the passenger and rear seats previewed features designed to make autonomous drive technology viable and easy-to-use on both highways and urban/city roads. These range from laser scanners and millimetre wave radars, to in-built cameras, high-speed computer systems and an advanced Human Machine Interface (or HMI). Takao Asami, senior vice-president of research and advanced engineering at Nissan, said: '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.î Last year, in Japan, Nissan launched the first of its models to be fitted with ProPilot autonomous drive technology _ the Serena. Ultimately its autonomous driving feature won the Japan Car of the Year Innovation Award of 2016-17. The tests in London come after recent announcements that Nissan's updated Qashwai and new Leaf models will both be ProPilot equipped. Plans are for the technology to be introduced to Chinese and US markets. The multi-lane autonomous driving technology, which enables automated lane changes on motorways, is planned for introduction in 2018. Meanwhile, autonomous driving on urban roads and intersections is planned for launch later in 2020.
