Nissan unveils ProPILOT auto drive system in Japan

Japan: As a part of innovation and a step forward towards self-driving cars, Japanese Nissan Motor Company has launched a new technology that offers nearly hands-free highway cruising. The company also warned the auto-makers about proper functioning of this technology following crash of a self-driving Tesla recently.

The technology developed by Nissan is termed as dubbed ProPILOT. It is expected to be installed in the company’s model Serena, a family van which is likely to hit the Japanese market by late August. The technology is also expected to reach the European market by next year, with their model Qashqai which is one of the prominent selling model in the European market. However, the company did not give a scheduled timeline for launching vehicles loaded with this technology in the US and China market.

The ProPILOT technology is enabled with single lane semi-autonomous driving in highway conditions by following the car ahead and tracking lane markers intelligently. The technology is also capable of maintaining a safe distance from the preceding vehicle by altering speeds and even stopping the car completely when required.

By this technology in operation, the company plans to prevent 93 percent of the traffic accidents which according to Nissan are caused by human errors. As their future plan, the company is yet to build upon ProPILOT, the same technology with a more advanced and enhanced system which is expected to be around 2018 and will permit automated driving across multiple lanes.   

According to a recent report published by TechSci Research, “Global Autonomous Car Technology Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2035 – ADAS, Semi-Autonomous, Fully-Autonomous”, Global autonomous car technology market is primarily divided into three segments - Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) car technologies, semi-autonomous car technology and fully-autonomous car technology. ADAS technologies are currently moving at a brisk pace on account of rising inclination towards greater automation. Moreover, fully-autonomous cars are expected to be commercially available by 2025, which is expected to translate into dramatic growth in the market. Key factors which are expected to drive growth in the market over the next twenty years include anticipated increase in regulations mandating integration of autonomous technology in new vehicles, decline in prices of autonomous technology and the rising focus on safety on roads.

TechSci Research believes that, by the launch of this new technology which is likely to garner a lot of support to the ongoing autonomous technology, and enhance the security related issues that have been persisting for a while. Furthermore, by the successful implementation of this technology which is loaded with additional security features, is expected to drive the market for autonomous cars globally.