Nissan Starts Autonomous Vehicle Testing On European Roads

Nissan has previewed its upcoming European on-road testing of autonomous vehicles with a demonstration on roads east of London.

The London drive follows Nissan’s earlier on-road autonomous driving demonstrations in North America and Japan.

Nissan has previously announced the updated Qashqai SUV and Leaf electric hatchback will be enabled for single lane autonomous driving on freeways using its ProPILOT technology (already fitted to some Serena people mover models in Japan). North America and China are slated to see this technology soon.

A multi-lane version of this technology will launch in 2018 ahead of a further advance to cater for urban roads and intersections.

Further to this news, the Renault-Nissan Alliance has announced a partnership with Transdev to develop fleets of electric autonomous vehicles to cater for public and on-demand transport.

Real-world testing will commence around Paris using a fleet of Renault ZOEs paired with Transdev’s on-demand dispatch, supervision and routing platform.

“Partnering with Transdev allows us to share our knowledge as leaders in electric vehicles, autonomous drive and connected car technologies with one of the largest multi-modal mobility operators worldwide,” revealed Renault-Nissan connected vehicle boss Ogi Redzic. “Together we will develop an advanced driverless mobility system that will enhance existing public and on-demand transport systems.”

Furthering its connected car technologies and mobility services, the Renault-Nissan Alliance already has partnerships with Microsoft and Japanese internet company DeNA.  

MORE: Nissan News and Reviews