The electric Jag that doesn’t need a chauffeur
IT resembles neither a Jaguar nor a Land Rover, but this futuristic vehicle is the latest offering from Britain’s biggest car-maker.
Dubbed Project Vector, the self-driving ‘pod’ was shown to Prince Charles yesterday at the National Automotive Innovation Centre at Warwick University.
Jaguar Land Rover aims to test the vehicle in its driverless transport trials on public roads in Coventry from next year.
The city will be a ‘living laboratory’ to check how the driverless pods interact other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. The car giant, owned by India’s Tata group, described Project Vector as an advanced, flexible, multi-use electric vehicle that is ‘autonomy-ready’.
Jaguar Land Rover said it was a ‘bold next step’ in their journey towards creating a hi-tech future of vehicles with ‘zero emissions, zero accidents and zero congestion’. With sliding glass doors, the compact vehicle measures just 12ft in length and is designed as a city runaround.
Seating is flexible and the vehicle can be configured to sit from two to five people. For the more traditional passenger, there is also a steering wheel, which can be deployed if the self-drive vehicle is to be over-ridden and driven manually.
The Government is committed to the idea of Britain being one of the first – if not the first – countries in the world to have driverless cars operating on its roads.
It also wants to ban the sale of all new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035. Project director Dr Tim Leverton said that, although the pod was about the size of a VW Polo, its design meant there was as much interior space as in a 4x4.
He said each pod used in the trial will carry up to six people and he expected a fleet of around 20 vehicles operating as student shuttles to and from Warwick University at speeds of up to 40mph.
He said: ‘I have experienced riding in a fully autonomous vehicle. You get to a level of comfort very quickly.’