Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Nissan Motor Co. will conduct a demonstration experiment in December to remotely monitor autonomous vehicles operating in Yokohama and Kobe, as part of its efforts to commercialize autonomous driving services, the Japanese automaker announced Wednesday.
The experiment will test whether it is possible to increase the number of vehicles monitored by a single operator while ensuring safety and improving profitability. The company aims to establish a new mobility service as soon as possible, which could replace route buses and other public transportation services that are being discontinued due to labor shortages.
The demonstration will be conducted at Level 2 on the five-level autonomous driving scale, where the driver takes manual control as needed, using Serena-based minivan vehicles featuring high-precision sensor and camera functions.
The company will monitor conditions concerning driving and inside the vehicle from a remote location to verify responsive processes in the event of an anomaly. The goal is to establish a system capable of efficiently monitoring multiple vehicles, thereby reducing labor costs and other expenses.
Nissan aims to launch a Level 4 service, where humans do not intervene in driving under specific conditions, as early as fiscal 2027. With an eye on obtaining approval from the Japanese government, the company envisions a future system in which a single monitor can oversee a few dozen vehicles.
----
This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.
YDN-M0000239820-1
Comments