Toyota tests car of future

Toyota has promised to sell self-driving cars in Japan in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The marque recently tested a modified Lexus GS, renamed the Highway Teammate, on the city’s expressway. It drove itself within the 60kph speed limit for about 10 minutes and carried out a range of automated moves including merging, changing lanes and keeping “inter-vehicular distance”. The car uses multiple external sensors to recognise nearby vehicles and hazards, and selects appropriate routes and lanes depending on the destination. Based on this information, it then “automatically operates the steering wheel accelerator and brake”, says Toyota. The technology demonstrated its “mobility teamwork concept”, whereby the driver and the artificial intelligence inside the car work together. Currently, the vehicle can only operate on main roads with straightforward driving conditions. Toyota is the latest company with plans for autonomous vehicles. Alongside Google’s fleet of self-driving cars, Nissan has plans to put an automated car on Japan’s roads next year, while Tesla is “almost ready” to make their cars driverless on main roads and parallel-park by themselves.