An autonomous Nissan Leaf being tested on the streets of London

Within the public-private ServCity program, the Nissan Leaf is developing a driverless car service now tested in real conditions in London.

The Nissan autonomous vehicle still does not exist. Yet in 2014, the manufacturer committed to “producing accessible autonomous vehicles by 2020”. While driver assistance systems have significantly advanced, going from point A to point B without touching the steering wheel remains a distant dream.

However, the brand continues to work on the technology, with a new experiment.

A real-world test for the autonomous Nissan Leaf

It is in England that you need to go to find the autonomous car project, named ServCity. The Japanese group is part of this initiative funded by the UK government and industry with 100 million pounds (120 million euros). Nissan worked with 5 other companies for several months to carry out “research, simulations, and tests on private test tracks”.

The autonomous car, based on a second-generation Nissan Leaf, can finally hit the road again, in the Greenwich neighborhood of London. But it won’t go just anywhere — it will operate around the Smart Mobility Living Lab urban center. This is where data will be collected via numerous roadside sensors and then analyzed.

The Nissan Leaf autonomous will thus regularly drive to confront urban conditions. Among other vehicles of all sizes (cars, buses, etc.), motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, and pedestrians — not to mention road infrastructure — there’s a wide range of scenarios to handle.

Based on this, Nissan will improve its autonomous driving systems, aimed at both cars and robotaxi services. However, the manufacturer does not mention the onboard equipment (cameras, radars, Lidar, processors).

Is the Nissan Leaf Losing Speed?

Why a Nissan Leaf? If the choice seems national — since the car is assembled in the UK, at Sunderland — the compact electric sedan is no longer very recent, being already 4 years old. Ultimately, why not, given that the Renault ZOE, conceived in 2013, is still used in experiments.

In terms of sales, despite pioneering in electric cars, the Nissan Leaf has lost all its shine at the start of the 2020s. After many years behind the Renault ZOE, it no longer even makes the Top 10 in France in 2021. How to explain this?

The main obstacle for the Nissan Leaf is its charging capabilities, as it is one of the few to offer a CHAdeMO socket. It does not support the European standard common to all its rivals, the Combo CCS2. Besides being limited by this format, the charging power does not exceed 50 kW. In comparison, a Volkswagen ID.3 reaches 125 kW peak, the Renault Mégane E-Tech 130 kW on EV60 versions.

The maximum range of 385 km on a 62 kWh battery is also not its strongest point. Even if sufficient for daily use, it falls short in comparison. The two rivals mentioned above perform much better, with smaller, more modern batteries, and at a slightly lower cost.

Also read: Mobileye and RATP deploy autonomous cars in Paris traffic