When n manual mode, all the seats point forward with the steering back to life.
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Unlike many automated vehicle concepts, the IDS is created to be personalised, even when it’s doing the driving.
Nissan officials said they were working hard to make the auto smart enough to recognize the difference between a red traffic light and a tail light, learn how to turn on intersections where white lane indicators might be missing and anticipate from body language when a pedestrian might cross a street. The concept coming to the Tokyo Motor Show may unlock the door to the future for the Japanese brand.
By 2020, Nissan expect to see its Intelligent Driving technology deployed on cars in cities around the world. The future according to Nissan is different from what other companies have imagined.
On the IDS concept, when Piloted Drive is selected, the four individual seats angle in toward the center to facilitate conversation (the floor is flat and there is no fixed center console). “This was something that we thought was absolutely necessary to express our idea of autonomous drive”, says Morita. The concept teased by the automaker is a vehicle which apparently previews the next-generation version of the electric Nissan Leaf. But you’re not alone: the car’s sensors continually monitor conditions, and offer assistance if necessary.
With the IDS Concept, Nissan appears to really be doubling down on its confidence in autonomous driving. The vision is that of an intelligent vehicle that works as an “attentive partner” in the driving process, going beyond just plying the roads and watching traffic.
Other neat tricks this futuristic, carbon-fiber-bodied vehicle has up its sleeve include wireless charging, the ability to park itself, and an outside-facing electronic display that can flash messages such as “after you” to pedestrians. Details such as large diameter wheels, thin-walled tires, and the use of vortexes to smooth airflow are found throughout the design.
With a click of a button, the steering wheel flips into the dashboard and is replaced by a smiling touch screen.
The interior is lit blue to stimulate concentration, Nissan says.
This concept is part of Nissan’s plans to introduce autonomous driving technologies on multiple vehicles by 2020.
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Its streamlined shape and EV powertrain also suggests it could form the pattern for the next-generation Leaf electric vehicle, though Nissan doesn’t explicity make any link between that model and this concept.
