Currently reading: Nissan Qashqai to get autonomous technology in 2017

Renault-Nissan has already confirmed 10-plus autonomous cars by 2020, and the Qashqai will be the first to use the new tech

The Nissan Qashqai will be able to travel autonomously on the single lane of a highway, including when driving in traffic, from 2017.

Nissan Qashqai autonomous tech previewed in Japanese production model

Renault-Nissan has already confirmed plans to launch more than 10 autonomous vehicles before 2020, and 'Piloted Drive 1.0' is the first self-driving technology the firm will roll out in a production car.

Nissan could produce a 'Premium' Qashqai

Autonomous technology will be “installed on mainstream, mass-market cars at affordable prices”, Renault-Nissan has said, and in 2018, a ‘multi-lane control’ system will allow the car to automatically change lanes and avoid hazards when driving autonomously on the highway. Two years after that its ‘intersection autonomy’ function will arrive, which will allow a car to navigate junctions and heavy traffic in urban areas.

The Piloted Drive-equipped Qashqai will go on sale in Japain this year, and the technology will also be showcased in Europe with a demonstration. All of the technology will be at the option of the driver, who can take back control at any time.

The Qashqai, which has been seen with a new trim level in concept form at the Geneva motor show, is the first car to get self-driving tech, but the next-generation Nissan Leaf would be a prime candidate to also get it given the recent IDS Concept at the Tokyo show that previewed the next Leaf featuring autonomous technology.

Paul Willcox, chairman of Nissan Europe, said: "The introduction of Piloted Drive technologies will be an evolution not a revolution as the building blocks for this are already in place in many of our cars today through our Safety Shielf Technology."

Renault-Nissan has also said it will launch a “suite of new connectivity applications that will make it easier for people to stay connected to work, entertainment and social networks”.

Renault-Nissan boss 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.”

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Mark Tisshaw

mark-tisshaw-autocar
Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.

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The Apprentice 6 March 2016

The reason for the push to

The reason for the push to connectivity is simply 'feature adding' Electronics are cheaper than ever, I bought a watch in China recently with a mobile phone in it for £15. Adding tech. to a car increases the spec. list for minimal cost to the manufacture. --- What scares me about this more, is does it indicate actual car development has topped out with what is possible within current fuel and road conditions?. We are not going to get any quieter better riding cars with better power trains, maybe that has peaked. Like an iphone, there is simply no more functionality you can do with the hardware so they just make it thinner. Look at how many things now from battery chargers to toasters come with gratuitous electronics, do you really need an LCD display on a kettle? (yes these do exist!). I would rather have a sweet driving but basic car that soothes the bumps away but still goes around a corner on rails and can withstand a head on with a drunk driver. But that takes expensive large lumps of metal, so what we are getting is cheap bits of copper tracked circuit board and LED's.
xxxx 8 January 2016

...confirmed plans to launch more than 10 autonomous vehicles

blah blah blah, this is so not going to happen, the nearest they're get is adaptive cruise control on an empty motorway and on the dash there be a warning saying "get ready to grab the wheel". I'd so love to see one of these cars drive around London Friday afternoon, NOT. Oh yea Renault forgot to mention the price of this extra (surprize surprize) £50,000 for a Meganne?
androo 8 January 2016

The end of the human driver is nigh

The future is looking good. Full and compulsory autonomy for all vehicles, when it comes, will offer a quantum leap into the future for humans. The advantages are so wide ranging it's dizzying to think about it. There will be a grieving period for people who think driving is some kind of right, but they'll get over it, as will motorcyclists, since they won't exist any more in the new world. But the vast majority, or their children, will be like the Smash Potato Robots falling over themselves laughing in disbelief at the old days when human beings were actually allowed to kill two million of each other a year by doing something they are fundamentally rubbish at.