Self-driving vehicles don’t suffer from impatience or road rage, and their eventual mass rollout is expected to significantly improve road safety, given that the vast majority of collisions are caused by human error.
Robotaxi fleets are operating commercially in several cities across the US, China, the United Arab Emirates and Croatia. Some have up to Level 4 autonomy, which means they are able to drive themselves in geo-fenced areas that have been mapped in high definition. Some of these vehicles have no human in the car but are monitored remotely by human operators who provide guidance if the AI encounters a scenario it can’t handle.
Full Level 5 — the holy grail where a car can be used anywhere without a steering wheel — has proven harder and more expensive than initially expected.
There have been a number of well-publicised accidents caused by self-driving cars, and some carmakers are also questioning whether there will be enough customer demand for autonomous vehicles to justify the investment. Ford and GM, for instance, have abandoned their in-house robo-car projects, but others are betting on advances in artificial intelligence to give the technology a game-changing boost.
Nissan, Uber and Wayve are using AI to develop robotaxis together with the intention of rolling out a pilot programme in Tokyo by late 2026. Nissan has also begun testing a driver-assistance system using the AI technology of British startup Wayve, ahead of a planned launch in select vehicles in Japan in 2027.
Business Day was invited to experience a demonstration of Nissan’s AI-enhanced ProPILOT system in Tokyo this week, riding in a self-driving prototype based on the Nissan Ariya. The car uses 11 cameras, five radar sensors and a next-generation LiDAR sensor to keep digital eyes on the surroundings, detecting objects at a distance in day or night-time driving, in slow or high-speed conditions.
With a safety driver seated behind the wheel as backup, the Ariya drove autonomously on a 30-minute route through the capital’s busy streets. The car was designed to navigate intersections and complex urban environments, and to understand how driving scenes evolve rather than just reacting to single objects. It can adapt to real-world scenarios and make decisions in complex situations.
The Nissan drove with a consistency and restraint expected of a well-trained human driver, showing consideration for other road users. Impatience wasn’t in its repertoire, and it didn’t try to steal gaps with a me-first attitude. It maintained safe following distances, changed lanes without cutting in front of fast-moving traffic, and prioritised pedestrians in its cruise through the city.
The car also coped with unexpected situations. When encountering a stationary vehicle partially obstructing its lane, it correctly identified the obstacle and overtook, rather than assuming it was part of slow-moving traffic.
The technology is not infallible and, on one occasion, the car activated its indicator a street too early — an error that could confuse other road users.
Overall, the ProPILOT system delivered an impressive performance on Tokyo’s well-maintained roads and among its generally disciplined drivers. It remains to be seen how AI-enhanced cars might cope outside of first-world driving conditions, for instance in South Africa which presents more challenges with its potholed roads, erratic driving behaviour and malfunctioning traffic lights.
Business Day
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