The evolvAD project, a UK-based autonomous driving (AD) research initiative, has concluded after 21 months of extensive testing. Led by a group of five industry collaborators, with Nissan as the technical lead, the project focused on evaluating the UK’s preparedness for adopting autonomous vehicle technologies and integrating these vehicles into existing road systems.
Building on past UK research efforts like HumanDrive and ServCity, the evolvAD project was jointly funded by the UK government and the participating companies. Over the past eight years, Nissan’s AD research in the UK has accumulated over 16,000 miles of testing across a variety of environments, including highways, urban areas, residential neighborhoods, and rural roads.
The consortium responsible for the project included Nissan, Connected Places Catapult, Humanising Autonomy, SBD Automotive, and TRL. Funding for the project came from the UK government’s £100 million Intelligent Mobility fund, overseen by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and managed by Innovate UK.
The testing aimed to enhance the performance of AD technology across different driving environments. Initially, autonomous vehicles were tested in simulation environments and private tracks before being taken onto public roads. The project examined low-speed maneuvering on narrow residential streets and higher-speed driving on unmarked rural roads. To meet these challenges, Nissan introduced a chassis control system to improve braking and steering for better handling in diverse conditions.
The project also explored the potential of vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technology to support autonomous vehicles. By utilizing infrastructure such as CCTV cameras on residential streets, connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) in the evolvAD project received real-time data to improve their situational awareness. The research offered valuable insights into the benefits of V2I technology and contributed to the development of new solutions in this space.
Following the completion of evolvAD, further research will focus on assessing the UK’s infrastructure and regulatory framework for the future integration of AD systems and services. Robert Bateman, the evolvAD Project Manager and head of Nissan’s Research and Advanced Engineering team at the Nissan Technical Centre Europe, emphasized that ongoing collaboration with industry partners will be crucial in determining the country’s readiness for autonomous mobility. He also noted that the findings from this research will provide critical insights to help guide policymakers and urban planners in preparing for the integration of autonomous technologies into transportation systems.
In addition to the evolvAD project, Nissan is conducting autonomous mobility research on a global scale, including work at its Research Centre in Japan and the Nissan Advanced Technology Centre in Silicon Valley, USA. The company is also testing its “Easy Ride” Serena AD vehicle in Yokohama, Japan, as part of a wider effort to explore autonomous mobility services.
