Will autonomous driving be ready by 2027? Nissan advances with Easy Ride

Nissan is making significant strides in autonomous driving, testing one of its driverless vehicles on Yokohama‘s busy streets for the first time.
The test involved a Serena minivan equipped with 14 cameras, 9 radar units, and 6 LiDAR sensors, enabling the vehicle to safely navigate urban traffic and pedestrians. During the road test, the autonomous vehicle respected the speed limit of 40 km/h, with its destination set via a dedicated app.

With the Easy Ride project, carried out in collaboration with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Nissan plans to initially reach Level 2 autonomy by 2027, which will still require remote supervision by an operator who can intervene in case of emergency. Achieving Level 4 autonomy, fully driverless and requiring no human oversight, is expected by 2030.

Meanwhile, Japan continues to make concrete progress in using Level 4 autonomous vehicles, already approved in rural and limited urban areas, such as near Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, employing golf-cart-like vehicles that currently operate at low speeds.

Photo Credits: Nissan Media