Autonomous Nissan Leaf Completes 230-Mile Journey Across UK

British researchers have successfully completed a 230-mile (370 km) fully autonomous journey across UK roads using a Nissan Leaf, with the route including various environments such as complex roundabouts and country lanes.

The project was dubbed HumanDrive, and was jointly funded by the UK government through the Center for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and Innovate UK, plus nine other consortium partners.

The joint funding package for the project cost an impressive £13.5 million ($17.6 million).

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“The HumanDrive project allowed us to develop an autonomous vehicle that can tackle challenges encountered on UK roads that are unique to this part of the world, such as complex roundabouts and high-speed country lanes with no road markings, white lines or kerbs,” said Nissan Europe project manager Bob Bateman.

The second part of the project focused on machine-learning AI technologies and how they could enhance the user experience and passenger comfort in connected and autonomous vehicles.

“Safely completing the longest autonomous drive in Britain is an incredible achievement for Nissan and the HumanDrive consortium, and a huge step towards the rollout of driverless cars on UK streets,” added business minister Nadhim Zahawi.

“This project is a shining example of how the autonomous industry, working with government, can drive forward technology to benefit people’s mobility – while helping to slash carbon emissions.”

While this remains a UK-based research project for the time being, Nissan will take what they’ve learned here and apply this knowledge to future systems. Right now, the Japanese carmaker’s ProPILOT system is only able to assist the driver with steering, acceleration and braking in single-lane traffic.