Nissan has revealed that it could be just seven years away from introducing a mass-produced, self-driving car for sale to the general public.
The Japanese manufacturer has announced that it will accelerate the development of autonomous, hands-free vehicles and is currently on track to be marketing such cars as early as 2020. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has also been quick to point out that the company delivered when it made bold promises about emission free cars several years ago.
In a recent press release he said: "Nissan Motor Company's willingness to question conventional thinking and to drive progress is what sets us apart.
"In 2007 I pledged that – by 2010 – Nissan would mass market a zero-emission vehicle. Today, the Nissan LEAF is the best-selling electric vehicle in history.
"Now I am committing to be ready to introduce a new ground-breaking technology, Autonomous Drive, by 2020, and we are on track to realise it."
The ground-breaking vehicles will use a 360-degree camera system (dubbed ‘Around View’) as well as laser scanners in order to drive themselves. The scanners will be linked to a computer system to constantly monitor the surrounding area.
The Nissan CEO also revealed that a bespoke test track will be created in Japan to test the autonomous cars. It will be used to see how the machines can cope in real world environments, and deal with pedestrians, buildings and other cars on the road.
The firm does have strong competition however, with Google claiming last year that its network of autonomous Toyota Prius vehicles had been tested for over 300,000 miles without accident. The cars could be on the road by 2017.
Nissan’s executive vice president, Andy Palmer, has not ruled out a coalition with Google either. He said: "I don't preclude the possibility of working with Google - or anyone else for that matter."
Additionally, self-driving cars were given a test run by Oxford researchers earlier this year. You can read more about that here.
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