Nissan’s Taking a Practical Approach to Hands-Free Driving Tech

Don’t expect Level 3 hands-free driving tech on a new Nissan or Infiniti vehicle in North America anytime soon. It's not because Nissan doesn’t know how to develop such a system, which goes beyond the Level 2 hardware offered across much of the industry today, but simply because it is not a priority right now.

Nissan is a company with its back up against the wall these days, with new leadership, troubling balance sheets, and a lot of bad press following the failed merger talks with Honda. Ivan Espinosa will take over as CEO on April 1 and the automaker is taking pains to focus its product strategy and let the world know there are exciting new vehicles in the pipeline with an assortment of powertrains and competitive tech.

That tech includes advanced driver assistance systems. Nissan has the capability to offer Level 3 driving—it is testing Level 4 driverless driving in robotaxis in Japan—but is making the conscious decision to hold back on offering the feature for now. The focus is on Level 2, and Level 2+ is achievable, but there are no current plans to introduce Level 3, Nissan corporate vice president for research and autonomous driving Kazuhiro Doi tells MotorTrend after a technical briefing in Japan. For those curious, Level 3 systems build on Level 2s' abilities to steer, brake, and accelerate a vehicle within the confines of well-marked or even pre-mapped highways; Level 3 ups the ante by requiring even less attention from the driver, who should still basically monitor what's happening at all times but is technically only needed in unusual or emergency scenarios. So far, the only Level 3 vehicles for sale in America are select Mercedes-Benzes with Drive Pilot tech, and only in Nevada and California.

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Customer Interest Not Here

It is a practical decision. The technology is ready, consumers are not, says Ponz Pandikuthira, regional senior vice president and chief planning officer, Nissan Americas. Nissan has Level 3 capability and has tested it. The problem is convincing consumers it is worth paying for.

Nissan data suggests drivers like and appreciate Level 2 features such as adaptive cruise control and self-steering lane-keeping assistance with some hands-free driving. But that is enough. Most consumers are not interested in taking it further. They are not willing to pay thousands of dollars for automated lane changing, Pandikuthira tells us. It raises the question: why spend money on a more complex system that people don’t want. The money can be spent elsewhere, for now.

Analyst Ed Kim, president of AutoPacific, concurs. Their research shows Level 3 autonomous driving capability is low on the list of what consumers want. It won’t be relevant for mainstream buyers, who are not yet comfortable with it, for years to come.

Nissan still needs to keep working on this technology to remain competitive but at this juncture, when the company has much bigger problems, the automaker is better served focusing on things that matter to them in the immediate sense and not full throttle pursuit of autonomous driving, Kim says.

Must Become More Affordable

At Nissan, work continues to perfect and advance driver assistance systems. The hope is the cost of advanced semiconductor chips will come down, says Pandikuthira. Then the question becomes: at what price point does Nissan make Level 3 available?

Nissan is a pioneer in this space. After testing autonomous driving safety systems on public roads in Japan with a safety driver, its ProPilot Assist system debuted on the Nissan Serena minivan in 2016. For the U.S., it was introduced on the 2018 Nissan Rogue, followed soon after in the 2018 Nissan Leaf. It was deemed innovative for its ability to control the vehicle’s speed, maintain a safe distance from other cars, and help stay in the intended lane. The original Level 1 system has continued to evolve over the years.

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Nissan’s Robotaxi Fleet Testing in Japan

Work continues on autonomous driving systems. Doi gave us an update on its robotaxi fleet that is testing its Level 4 capabilities in Japan. It is using Serena minivans as driverless taxis in Yokohama, Japan, where Nissan is headquartered, offering the first driverless robotaxi for city streets in a country with strict regulations for this technology. The minivans are outfitted with 14 cameras, nine radars, and six lidars to read its surroundings and make driving decisions.

Nissan will test a fleet of 20 minivans over the next two years in Yokohama with plans to expand to other Japanese cities and commercialize the ride-hailing service in 2027.

Doi says the work is important with a pending shortage of taxi and public transportation drivers in cities in Japan. Drivers are getting older, and the profession is not attracting younger people. Autonomous driving also has a role to play in multimodal transportation and to ensure mobility in rural areas.