Thursday 6 February 2020

Autonomous Nissan LEAF drives 230 miles across UK

An autonomous Nissan LEAF has successfully completed a 230-mile journey across the UK.

Delivered by the HumanDriveUK consortium, which is backed by the UK Government and led by Nissan, the project saw the self-driving electric vehicle (EV) travel from Bedfordshire to Sunderland.

The car used technologies such as GPS, radar, LIDAR and video cameras to travel through a number of "unique road environments".

These involved complex roundabouts and high-speed country lanes with no road markings, white lines or kerbs, road types that autonomous vehicles often struggle to handle.

The team behind the vehicle technology say the journey is a major milestone in its project to make autonomous vehicle systems feel more "human-like and natural".

Business Minister, Nadhim Zahawi said: "Safely completing the longest autonomous drive in Britain is an incredible achievement for Nissan and the HumanDrive consortium and a huge step towards the rollout of driverless cars on UK streets.

"This project is a shining example of how the automotive industry, working with government, can drive forward technology to benefit people’s mobility - while helping to slash carbon emissions."