► Ten vehicles with autonomous tech planned
► Set to be affordable, mass-market cars
► To be rolled out over the next four years
The Renault–Nissan Alliance has announced its plan to launch more than 10 affordable, mainstream vehicles features autonomous technology in the next four years.
It’s part of the Alliance’s drive to improve safety in its cars, by reducing driver error. Reputedly, driver error accounts for up to 90% of fatalities on the road.
A drive to develop and launch vehicles with autonomous driving features will also help keep the Alliance in contention in future markets. Many other competitors, such as Volkswagen, are already working on autonomous cars of their own.
Do the plans involve anything other than autonomous driving?
The Alliance is additionally looking to continue developing zero-emissions cars, which it believes are essential to sustainable motoring in the future. Since 2010, it’s sold 300,000 all-electric cars, and more are planned.
Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO, Carlos Ghosn, said: ‘Renault-Nissan Alliance is deeply committed to the twin goals of zero emissions and zero fatalities. That’s why we are developing autonomous driving and connectivity for mass-market, mainstream vehicles on three continents.’
How will it be rolled out?
In 2016 the Alliance is set to launch cars with ‘single-lane’ control, allowing for autonomous driving on motorways. This will be expanded on in 2018 by ‘multiple-lane control’ which will allow the car to change lanes automatically.
Lastly, at the end of the plan in 2020, a system capable of dealing with busy city traffic and junctions will be made available. The cars will be offered in the US, Europe, China and Japan, along with new connectivity applications that which will make them easier to interact with.
The Alliance isn’t starting from square one, either. In 2015, Nissan revealed its IDS concept, which offered ‘Piloted Drive’. This system, besides offering autonomous driving, was designed to mimic the owner’s personal driving style.