A consortium of five industry partners has successfully completed the UK’s latest autonomous driving (AD) research project with the help of a fleet of electric Nissan Leafs.

Over 21 months, the five partners – Nissan, Connected Places Catapult, Humanising Autonomy, SBD Automotive and TRL – worked to technically support UK supply chain readiness for future mass deployment of AD technologies in the UK.

During the EvolvAD project, the connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), equipped with latest AD technology, were tested in various simulators and on private test-tracks before being introduced onto urban residential and rural roads for “the most rigorous test” of AD technology ever in the UK.

Using infrastructure such as CCTV on residential streets, the EvolvAD CAVs received information to improve situational awareness, creating a unique test study on how vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) can be used to enhance the performance of CAVs, as well as developing all-new V2I technologies.

The project was jointly funded by government and the consortium partners. The Government’s £100m Intelligent Mobility fund is administered by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and delivered by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

EvolvAD builds on previous Nissan-backed projects in the UK – HumanDrive and ServCity – bringing autonomous mobility closer to reality as part of the company’s global vision for a safer, cleaner and more inclusive world.

The three projects represent more than 16,000 autonomous miles driven over eight years and more than 16,000 autonomous miles across the country’s motorways, urban centres, residential streets and countryside, with zero accidents.

David Moss, senior vice president, region research & development for Nissan AMIEO (Africa, Middle East, India, Europe, and Oceania), said: “All three research projects have been tremendously successful in driving our knowledge and understanding of how AD technology performs across challenging driving environments.

“It has been a privilege working with our dedicated partners to advance AD mobility. As well as making driving safer by reducing human error, and cleaner by improving efficiency, this technology can give many more people access to mobility who may not have it today due to location, age or disability.

“Our talented UK team at Nissan Technical Centre Europe in Cranfield will continue developing this technology, and we’re excited to bring AD mobility services to customers in the coming years.”

The successful conclusion of EvolvAD prepares for the next phase of AD deployment, which will assess the readiness of cities and regions across the UK for the future introduction of AD systems and services.

Nissan is conducting ‘Autonomous mobility service’ research globally in Japan (Nissan Research Centre), the UK (Nissan Technical Centre Europe) and the US (Nissan Advanced Technology Centre, Silicon Valley). This includes the latest ‘Easy Ride’ Serena AD vehicle testing in Yokohama, Japan, where the company is aiming to launch autonomous mobility services.

EvolvAD contributes to Nissan’s ongoing global development of autonomous mobility, sharing insights and data to understand how the technology can be tailored to perform safely across different driving conditions worldwide.

Robert Bateman, EvolvAD Project Manager and Manager of Nissan’s Research and Advanced Engineering team, Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE), said: “Following the successful conclusion of EvolvAD and previous projects, we are now shifting towards studying the readiness of the UK to introduce AD systems.

“Again, working with partners, we need to develop a 360-degree understanding of infrastructure and regulatory needs across the country, and provide critical insights to policy-makers and urban planners to ensure a successful introduction of AD mobility services in the right way and at the right time.”

Sarah Jones MP, Minister for Industry, said: “The UK is home to a world-class automotive sector, and I’m pleased this project has brought autonomous vehicles one step closer to reality.

“Our Industrial Strategy will strengthen this industry, bringing growth, jobs and opportunities to every part of the UK.”