Seems like you can’t go a day observing the automotive industry without something to do with self-driving cars flying at you like a slippery fish. At least on this occasion, there’s a sense of camaraderie to the proceedings. A more collective slap, if you will.
A £20 million programme, called Autodrive, to further autonomous driving technologies has been initiated by the British government recently, bringing together Ford, Tata and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) into a cordial collaborative effort.
Both Ford and JLR have boasted about its self-driving chops, and despite Tata sounding like the odd-man out here. The major Indian automaker’s position as JLR’s owner whose stewardship has produced a resurgent period for both brands puts it squarely as the party standing to benefit the most.
It’s even arguable that there wouldn’t be an autonomous research division within JLR if not for Tata. Given this relationship, however, its somewhat redundant to see them included by name in this project as JLR’s involvement grants them de facto association.
The systems from both companies, as they stand, are able to follow along with vehicles on a motorway - keeping in their respective lane, overtaking when necessary, and slowing down or stopping when it detects a the cars ahead have already done so.
While that’s all impressive, it has become par for the course in terms of the leading edge in autonomous drive capabilities. Tesla recently rolled out what it deems to be hardware to all its cars that will enable Level 5 autonomous driving (not requiring human intervention whatsoever), but won’t be enabled until at least the end of 2017.
A similar timeline is echoed by the Autodrive collaborative, which cites 2018 as the period when the system will be deployed within a trial period on the public roads of Coventry and Milton Keynes, northeast of London.
Tony Harper, Head of Research, Jaguar Land Rover, said: “We know that there’s a huge potential for these technologies in future vehicles around the world. Until now we have focused on communication between Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, this collaborative approach is a major stepping stone towards all Connected and Autonomous Vehicles co-operating with each other in the future.
“Our aim is to give drivers exactly the right information at the right time and collaborations with other manufacturers are essential to help us deliver this commitment to our customers.”
For more on Ford, Jaguar, or Land Rover vehicles, including pricing and specifications, check out our Showroom.
