Nissan, at its headquarters in Yokohama Japan, has initiated demonstrations of a new prototype vehicle equipped with advanced in-house-developed autonomous drive technologies. This marks significant progress towards the company’s goal of rolling out autonomous mobility services by fiscal year 2027.
The new Nissan LEAF prototype, featuring 14 cameras, 10 radars, and 6 LIDAR sensors, highlights Nissan’s advancements in autonomous driving, particularly within complex urban settings. Compared to earlier versions, the new prototype boasts a comprehensive array of roof-mounted sensors, which significantly expand the detection area and improve the accuracy of its surroundings’ detection.
Enhanced recognition performance, behavioral prediction, and judgment functions, along with improved control capabilities, allow the prototype to operate smoothly in various complex scenarios. In the bustling streets of Yokohama, near Nissan’s global headquarters in Japan, the LEAF prototype adeptly predicts pedestrian behavior, manages lane changes during merging, and makes safe intersection entries.
Since 2017, Nissan has been exploring business models for future mobility services. The current demonstration operates at an SAE Level 2 equivalent, meaning a human driver must be present at all times to take over the controls as needed. However, Nissan plans to expand functionality and launch autonomous-drive mobility services in Japan starting in fiscal year 2027, in collaboration with local authorities and transport operators.
Nissan intends to begin trials in the Minato Mirai area in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year, with service demonstration tests planned for 2025. These trials will incrementally increase the level of autonomous driving functionality, assessing customer acceptance along the way, with the ultimate goal of providing driverless services.
This initiative is conducted in close collaboration with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and other central ministries. These ministries will also support initiatives to realize new autonomous mobility services through the Level 4 Mobility Acceleration Committee they organize.
Nissan’s long-term vision is to empower mobility and address transportation service challenges faced by local communities, particularly in Japan. With the country experiencing driver shortages due to an aging population, Nissan aims to introduce a range of new services that enable seamless movement and resolve these mobility issues.
Nissan sets its fiscal year from April 1 of the present year to March 31 of next year.
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