TECH INSIDER: EVOLVAD EvolvAD is a UK autonomous driving research project led by Nissan (NTCE) Driving school AAVI catches up with the project lead responsible for the UK’s most comprehensive AD project yet By Anthony James The UK project team with one of the Nissan Leaf test vehicles A consortium of five industry partners has successfully completed the UK’s latest autonomous driving (AD) research project – the most rigorous ever in the country, according to Nissan, which led the project. EvolvAD builds on previous Nissan-backed projects in the UK – HumanDrive and ServCity – and ends an intensive eight-year period during which more than 25,000 autonomous kilometers were driven across the country’s freeways, urban centers, residential streets and rural roads, with zero accidents. “Following the successful conclusion of EvolvAD and previous projects, we are now shifting toward studying the readiness of the UK to introduce AD systems,” said Robert Bateman, EvolvAD project manager and manager of Nissan’s research and advanced engineering team at the Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE), at the time of the project’s conclusion in March. Project background The project began in July 2023. A fleet of electric Nissan Leafs were tested in various simulators and on private test tracks before being introduced onto urban residential and rural roads for the most rigorous test of AD technology ever in the UK. “FOLLOWING THE SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION OF EVOLVAD … WE ARE NOW SHIFTING TOWARD STUDYING THE READINESS OF THE UK TO INTRODUCE AD SYSTEMS” Robert Bateman, Nissan (NTCE) 04 ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International April 2025
ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International April 2025: Page 4
