Latest news with #ProPilot
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Uber, SoftBank-Backed Wayve To Test Self-Driving Cars On Public Roads In UK
Wayve and Uber Technologies, Inc (NYSE:UBER) on Tuesday announced a first-ever plan to develop and launch public-road trials of Level 4 (L4) fully autonomous vehicles in London. This was enabled by the U.K. Secretary of State for Transport's announcement of an accelerated framework for self-driving commercial pilots. In 2024, Wayve and Uber announced a multi-year collaboration to integrate Wayve's Embodied AI into vehicles operating on the Uber platform. This next phase moves the partnership into live operational trials on U.K. roads, building toward scaled deployment in key European announcement marks the U.K. as the largest market in which Uber shares plans to pilot autonomous vehicles. The trials will combine Wayve's Embodied AI platform with Uber's global mobility network to bring autonomous vehicles to the streets of Europe at scale. Wayve and Uber will collaborate with the U.K. Government and Transport for London on the regulatory approval process before the launch. Heidi Alexander, Secretary of State for Transport, said that by fast-tracking pilots of self-driving vehicles to spring 2026, it noted safety-first tests that will drive growth, create 38,000 jobs, and add 42 billion pounds to its economy. In April, Nissan Motor announced partnering with Wayve to power the next generation of its ProPilot driver-assist system, set to debut in vehicles by the 2027 fiscal year. Wayve, backed by a $1.3 billion funding led by SoftBank (OTC:SFTBF) (OTC:SFTBY), has emerged as a key player in the autonomous vehicle space. Other major investors include Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), Microsoft Corp (MSFT), and Uber. Price Action: UBER stock is trading higher by 0.59% to $87.63 premarket at last check Tuesday. Read Next:Photo by DenPhotos via Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Uber, SoftBank-Backed Wayve To Test Self-Driving Cars On Public Roads In UK originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Top Gear
03-06-2025
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Buy Nissan Ariya Price, PPC or HP
Buying What should I be paying? You've got four trims, two batteries and a choice of front-wheel or four-wheel drive powertrains to choose from, starting at £39,655 for the entry-level Engage model and topping out at £56,620 for the Nismo with its perky twin motors. As an example on Nissan's own finance scheme, you'd be looking at around £590 a month for the Ariya in Advance trim with the bigger battery over three years/10,000 miles and a £4,500 deposit. Advertisement - Page continues below What are the trims like? The £39,655 Engage squeaks under the £40k threshold for the Expensive Car Supplement that comes with your VED bill. It offers the small 63kWh battery, 19in alloys, LED headlights, a heat pump, dual zone aircon, auto lights and wipers, rear parking camera and Apple/Android connectivity as standard. It's an extra £5k for the bigger 87kWh battery. Advance trim starts at £43,155 and adds a powered tailgate, heated front seats and windscreen, wireless phone charging, fancy ProPilot cruise control and 360-degree parking cameras. Again, it's £5k for the bigger battery and this time you can add another £2.7k on top for AWD. Evolve spec comes in from £47,150 with the same jumps for the bigger battery and extra motor on the rear wheels, this trim adding a panoramic sunroof, ventilated front seats and heated rear seats, the power sliding centre console, Bose sound system and the head-up display. The £56,630 Nismo car has some exterior styling tweaks, light drivetrain upgrades and the bootful of extra power, as well as 20in alloys and some further styling upgrades on the inside. Advertisement - Page continues below The Ariya looked pricey compared to some of its competitors when it was launched, but recent reductions have actually brought the entry price down below a few of its main rivals. Which one should I go for? Range is the thing here – if it was our money, it would be going on the £48k Advance trim car with the bigger battery, for 329 miles of range and some choice equipment additions over the entry-level car (we love our heated seats). If you want to, you can add the panoramic sunroof (£1,295) and a Bose tech pack (£1,750) that features a 10-speaker sound system, head-up display and digital rearview mirror, but save it and go on a nice holiday instead. If you're after a performance EV and are eying up the £56k Nismo version, perhaps we could interest you in the infinitely more entertaining £65k Hyundai Ioniq 5 N? Or perhaps the £40k entry car plus a second-hand Caterham for sunny weekends. You know it makes sense.
Japan Times
22-04-2025
- Automotive
- Japan Times
U.K. AI startup Wayve makes Japan debut after Nissan partnership
Wayve Technologies, a U.K.-based artificial intelligence startup backed by SoftBank, has tapped Japan as the next location in its global expansion. On Tuesday, it announced the opening of a test center in Yokohama, making Japan its fourth market after the U.K., U.S. and Germany as it looks to work with major carmakers in developing AI-driven autonomous driving technology. "The platform we provide can give a safer and more reliable driving performance than any single manufacturer can build on their own,' Chief Executive Officer Alex Kendall said during an interview. Autonomous driving, or the pursuit of it, is fast becoming a cornerstone of the future of transportation, with big implications for safety, efficiency and accessibility. But true full self-driving — where a vehicle can operate in any environment without human input — is still several years away. Most systems operate at what's known as Level 2 or Level 3 autonomy, meaning they still require a human driver to monitor the system and take over if needed. The leap to Level 5 has proven elusive, despite the billions of dollars that have been poured into the sector. Wayve raised a record $1 billion last year in funding from SoftBank as well as Nvidia, Microsoft and Uber. Earlier this month, Wayve said it was joining forces with Nissan to help build the next generation of its ProPilot driver-assist system, which is slated to hit the road in about two years. It's the first time a mainstream carmaker has agreed to use Wayve's technology in its production cars. Wayve's competitive edge comes from the amount of data it can collect and the fact that its system is hardware agnostic, Kendall said. "What the automotive industry globally has been challenged by is building the right software,' he said. Nissan's ProPilot was first introduced in 2016 and assisted with lane centering and keeping a safe distance from vehicles ahead. The second version in 2019 offered hands-off driving on freeways. Nissan said its latest system will amount to Level 2 when it debuts in the 2027 fiscal year, meaning the vehicle can handle steering and acceleration but the driver must be able to take control at all times. Stringent regulations are a major hurdle for assisted and autonomous driving in lots of places around the world but also in Japan, where all vehicles for the time being will require human supervision and intervention. Providing remote services also remains a major challenge, Takeshi Kimura from Nissan's Mobility and AI Laboratory said in March. Nissan aims to roll out an autonomous vehicle ride-share service in 2027 as Japan faces an aging, shrinking population and, as a result, a dearth of taxi drivers. Wayve's decision to partner with Nissan raised some eyebrows, given the carmaker is in the throes of its worst financial crisis in a quarter century. The Japanese automaker has been searching for new business partners ever since its agreement to combine with Honda under a single holding company collapsed in February. "I have full confidence in the management team to navigate the challenges they're going through,' Kendall said.
WIRED
16-04-2025
- Automotive
- WIRED
This Could Be Japan's Best-Kept EV Secret—and It Deserves to Be Shared
The ride itself is surprisingly comfortable, an effect furthered by the sofa-like seats. While the height helps with the headroom it does mean the center of gravity is not so low, leading to some body movement. Power comes from a 63 hp (47 kW) electric motor mounted on the front axle which can deliver 195 Nm of torque. There are actually two forms of braking regeneration, the normal and the e-pedal variety. While the braking regeneration under Eco is definitely noticeable, it is nothing compared to what you get when you press the e-pedal button. With this engaged you get a near one-pedal driving experience, but it will not take you to a complete halt, just a crawl of around 5 mph. Mark Andrews Despite having only a 20 kWh battery pack the range as measured by the WLTC cycle is 112 miles, which is more than enough for a commute. It should be noted that the Sakura will use less electricity when driven at city speeds. Nissan reports that 83 percent of owners say they spend less than 5,000 yen ($33) a month charging the car. Helping reduce energy consumption are features such as the LED lights and a heat pump, which reduces the amount of power needed to heat the car in winter. Fast-charging, the Sakura's battery can go from 10 to 80 percent in around 40 minutes. It also supports vehicle-to-load, meaning you can use the car as a power source on household appliances and similar devices. Beyond Japan Surprisingly, the car's systems such as the navigation were possible to switch into English, so if the determined fan were to import one to the US, they wouldn't be stuck with a Japanese UI. Tech in general is an area the car scores highly on. The G version as standard has Nissan's ProPilot. Although I didn't try it on the highway, I did try the car's auto-parking function. You then select a target space and hold down appropriate park button while the car completes the maneuver. I found it to have variable effectiveness, with it claiming on occasions to have successfully parked when it had not fully reversed into a space. In such small cars, safety is always a question mark—but, in 2022, the Sakura gained a 5-star rating in the JNCAP test, though it should be noted that this is not as stringent as the Euro NCAP rating. The car does, however, come with seven airbags, along with active evasive maneuver assistance, intelligent emergency braking, and collision warning. Sadly, so far Nissan has shown no desire to sell the car outside Japan, although a few secondhand examples have ended up in right-hand drive markets such as New Zealand. The Sakura might be Japan's best-selling EV (indeed, strong demand led to Nissan having to pause sales in late 2022 because it had too many orders), but it has the potential to be far more than that. It is the EV that many city EV drivers have been crying out for. While it might not be as ridiculously cheap as the Chinese micro EVs (which can go as low as $5,000), it is still, comparatively, an absolute bargain—and crucially more of a 'proper car' than any of its China rivals. With real safety credentials, fast charging, good handling and enough power to even be used for the odd (slightly) longer trip on the highway, surely there's a market for the Sakura in Europe and the US? We'll have to hope Nissan comes to think the same.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Wayve's self-driving tech is headed to Nissan vehicles
Nissan said it will use self-driving software developed by Wayve to beef up its advanced driver assistance system starting in 2027, a landmark deal for the buzzy UK startup that has raised more than $1.3 billion from Nvidia, Microsoft, SoftBank Group, and Uber. Nissan will integrate Wayve's software as well as sensors, including lidar from an undisclosed supplier, into its ADAS system known as ProPilot. The Japanese automaker said the system will set a "new standard for autonomous driving with advanced collision avoidance capability." Nissan said the system being developed for mass production by 2027 will be a Level 2 system operating under driver supervision. Nissan didn't disclose which models the system would be available in. Level 2, as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers, means the system can automate multiple driving tasks such as steering and braking, but still requires a driver to maintain control at all times. Wayve, which launched in 2017, has garnered attention and investors for its automated driving system, which is self-learning versus rules-based, similar to Tesla's approach. Wayve has developed its end-to-end data-driven learning approach for "eyes on" assisted driving and an "eyes off" fully automated driving system. Unlike Tesla, Wayve plans to sell its "Embodied AI" to automakers and other tech companies. Wayve's self-learning approach is seen as particularly appealing to automakers because it's not reliant on specific sensors or HD maps. This means Wayve's system can work with existing sensors like cameras and radar. The automated driving software captures data from those sensors, which directly informs the driving decisions of the system. And while the startup's development fleet uses Nvidia's Orin system-on-chip, co-founder and CEO Alex Kendall has said the software can run on whatever GPU its OEM partners already have in their vehicles. All of this translates to software that's cheap to run and used in advanced driver-assistance systems, robotaxis, and even robotics, Kendall said last month at Nvidia's GTC conference. Nissan spokesperson Shiro Nagai noted in an email that Wayve's Embodied AI foundation model, a large-scale end-to-end AI trained on vast amounts of real-world driving data, allows the software to adapt across different environments and vehicle platforms. "Leveraging Nissan's technology and Wayve's AI, we are confident it will allow future Nissan vehicles to closely replicate the judgment and actions of a careful and competent human driver in complex driving scenarios," Nagai said. Sign in to access your portfolio
