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Nissan tests fully autonomous ProPilot tech on Tokyo roads

We've been hearing a lot about Nissan's ProPilot technology lately. ProPilot Assist is coming to the U.S. in the Rogue, as well as the Leaf EV. For this generation, the system allows for Level 2 autonomous driving, which is essentially adaptive cruise control paired with a lane-keeping function. Later, Nissan will add ProPilot Park, which allows the car to park itself. The next generation of ProPilot, though, allows for Level 4 fully autonomous driving, even on urban streets, beginning in 2020. Nissan has announced that it has already tested it on public roads during a demonstration in Tokyo. The prototype test vehicle is an Infiniti Q50. It's fitted with 12 cameras, 12 sonar sensors, nine millimeter-wave radar sensors, six laser scanners and high-definition mapping, all run through artificial intelligence. With this combination of hardware and software, the Q50 prototype can navigate across town or on the highway, automating the entire driving duties from the moment the passenger selects a destination until their arrival. It can tackle busy intersections and respond to obstacles in the road, providing what Nissan claims is a "human-like driving feel that gives passengers peace of mind." View 29 Photos "Our next-generation ProPilot prototype showcases technology that will be available for real-world use from 2020," said Takao Asami, Nissan's senior VP of research and advanced engineering. "Today's demonstration is another example of our successful work toward creating an autonomous driving future for all." Autoblog has already had the chance to sample the current generation of ProPilot Assist, in both the Leaf and the Rogue. While there has been a little bit of disagreement in our office, most of us have found the technology to work fairly well, and are looking forward to trying the next generation of semi-autonomous and autonomous systems. As the tech advances, it will only get smoother and smarter. Related Video: News Source: Nissan Green Infiniti Nissan Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles Electric Videos Sedan nissan propilot propilot

Nissan's plan to supply US Mitsubishi dealers with family sedan stalls

Mitsubishi has quietly had some big success recently. The Japanese brand sold 77,643 vehicles in the US for all of 2014, a 24.8 percent jump over 2013. While still relatively small overall (Ford sold 74,355 F-Series trucks just in December, for example), it shows definite growth for the sometimes forgotten automaker. Unfortunately, the latest news might not help the company's future expansion. The proposed partnership of Mitsubishi and the Renault-Nissan Alliance on at least one midsize sedan for the US market is off the table, according to Automotive News. The company informed sellers that the collaboration had fallen through during a National Automobile Dealers Association meeting. "I told them that the plan has stalled," said Don Swearingen, executive vice president of Mitsubishi Motors North America, to Automotive News. "And I said that's really all I can tell you at this time." Under the original partnership, Mitsubishi was supposed to get a D-segment sedan that would have been built at the Renault-Samsung factory in Busan, South Korea. The automakers were also negotiating for Mitsu to get a C-segment four-door as a global model and developing an electric kei car for Japan together, due in 2016. While the sedan is gone, Mitsubishi isn't completely bereft of improved products in the pipeline. The Mirage Sedan is being launched in the US, and the Outlander is supposed to get a redesign for the 2016 model year. According to Automotive News, the Outlander Sport and Lancer are also due for refreshes in 2016, and a new Mirage is on the way.

Nissan sees its EV sales surging to 1 million annually by 2022

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Nissan announced plans to sell 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) annually by 2022, a six-fold jump from what it sold last year, and said it had no plans to stop testing its self-driving cars on public roads, calling them safe. Japan's No. 2 automaker and its rivals are planning to crank up development and production of electric cars in response to tightening emissions regulations around the world, even as demand for such vehicles remains limited due to their high cost and limited charging infrastructure. Launched as the world's first mass-market all-battery EV in 2010, Nissan's Leaf compact hatchback is the world's best-selling EV, though sales have been just around 300,000 units in its lifetime. The company now plans to focus its lower-emissions lineup on all-battery and gasoline-hybrid EVs rather than costlier technologies including plug-in hybrids. Nissan said on Friday it would develop eight new all-battery EVs over the next five years, including four models for China. Its luxury Infiniti brand would begin carrying new electric models from 2021, it added. Through 2022, vehicles powered by its "e-Power" gasoline-hybrid technology would likely comprise the majority of Nissan's electric line-up, it said. Such vehicles use gasoline to power the car's motor, requiring a much smaller battery than EVs and therefore are less expensive to produce. "The heart of our strategy in terms of electrification is battery EVs and e-Power technology," Nissan Chief Planning Officer Philippe Klein told reporters at a briefing. Concerns about EV battery costs and components have prompted many automakers to develop a variety of lower emissions technologies, but Klein said that Nissan would largely forego plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell technologies, given their low cost-performance at the moment. In 2017, Nissan sold 163,000 electric vehicles globally. Nissan and its automaking partners, Renault and Mitsubishi, together plan to launch 17 electric models as part of their strategy to achieve annual vehicle sales totaling 14 million units by 2022, compared with 10.6 million units in 2017. Self-driving tests to continue Automakers and technology companies are facing mounting pressure to prove that their automated driving functions under development are safe to use on public roads following a fatal accident involving a self-driving car operated by Uber Technologies [UBER.UL] in the United States earlier this week.