Nissan Unveils Self-Driving Car With 500km Range

Nissan has unveiled its vision for the future: the autonomous, zero-emissions IDS Concept car. Presented at last week’s Tokyo Motor Show, the vehicle integrates control and safety technologies with artificial intelligence for the next generation of self-driving cars.

The 2015 Tokyo Motor Show is bursting with much of the excitement coming from Nissan. This year, the company brought along a new-to-the-world concept — the Nissan IDS. As Nissan aspires to live in a world with zero emissions, going way back to when it first introduced the LEAF, you can imagine this hot ride is electric — and it is. The IDS is the next iteraction of the mainstream consumer vehicle.
It is the first of what Nissan hopes would be many vehicles equipped with new technology by the year 2020.
Presenting at the show, Nissan Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn shared an excerpt about the company’s vision for the future of personal mobility.
Ghosn boasted that Nissan’s forthcoming technologies will revolutionise the relationship between car and driver, and future mobility.
“A key point behind the Nissan IDS Concept is communication,” design director Mitsunori Morita said in a statement.
“For autonomous drive to become reality, as a society we have to consider not only communication between car and driver, but also between cars and people,” Morita said.
The electric vehicle is fitted with a 60 kWh battery, and sports a low stance for better aerodynamics, allowing it to drive long distances on a single charge. Plus, sync the car with your smartphone to take advantage of Piloted Park and wireless charging technologies.
The sleek automobile comes in two modes: Manual Drive or Piloted Drive (PD).
This allows one to choose whether or not they feel like driving, are able to drive, or just want to relax… as needed. While PD is fully automated, safety features while in manual mode were also highlighted, indicating that the car maintains awareness and the ability to intervene even when in manual mode. This continues an exciting trend of leveraging autopilot features to improve safety. The more manufacturers start integrating these intelligent driving features into their cars, the better, as that will drive faster improvements in the technology, lower costs, and ultimately, safer roads for all. -TheNation