Autonomous vehicle project begins London road testing

Autonomous vehicle tests have begun on the streets of London as part of the ServCity research project.

A connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) based on the Nissan Leaf is being deployed after months of development on private test tracks.

ServCity has received funding from the UK Government’s Intelligent Mobility Fund, and involves partners including Nissan, the Connected Places Catapult, TRL, Hitachi Europe, the University of Nottingham and SBD Automotive.

By using a combination of test simulation, end-user experience research, and rear-world trials, the plan is for ServCity to demonstrate how cities can exploit the potential of future mobility solutions and accelerate their deployment. 

Nissan project manager Bob Bateman said: “We are extremely proud to be a part of the ServCity project and are excited to trial our 100% electric Nissan Leaf as test vehicles. 

“Our Nissan Intelligent Mobility strategy strives to achieve a mobility future that is more electric, more autonomous and more connected and we look forward to working in collaboration with ServCity’s other partners to achieve this.”