Range Rover Sport Performs First Self-Driving Loop In England

Jaguar Range Rover has just trialled their Range Rover Sport in a fully-automated self-driving journey. The prototype vehicle, fitted with various sensing equipment handled the complex Coventry Ring Road, successfully changing lanes, merging with traffic, and exiting junctions at the speed limit of 40 mph (64 km/h).

The trial is part of the GBP 20 million government-funded project, UK Autodrive, which ends this month after a three-year programme.

The Range Rover Sport, already equipped with Adaptive Cruise Control, has been modified to include additional navigation sensors, RADAR, and LIDAR. Coupled with the UK Autodrive research, the vehicle can now autonomously handle roundabouts, traffic lights, pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehicles on complicated roads. It can also park itself.

Mark Cund, Jaguar Land Rover Autonomous Vehicle Research Manager, said, “The Coventry Ring Road is known for its complicated slip roads and exits. It makes for very challenging conditions, especially when under pressure in the rush hour.

“Our self-driving car is not impacted by the same pressure, frustrations or fatigue that a driver may experience and so it’s capable of turning a potentially very stressful situation into a completely stress-free one.”

Highly skilled Jaguar Land Rover engineers have also developed connected features as part of UK Autodrive. The safety-enhancing and emission reducing technology uses the internet to connect vehicles to each other and to infrastructure such as traffic lights.

Jaguar Land Rover plans to make the most capable self-driving vehicles a reality for customers within ten years.