Honda has announced plans to introduce vehicles with highly-automated driving capability in most driving situations by the year 2025. Honda had previously announced that all Honda and Acura vehicles are planned to highly-automated freeway driving capability (SAE Level 3) by 2020 – and the 2025 plans build on this further, proving to be critical steps in achieving their commitment of contributing to a collision-free society.
Automated driving is based on six levels of capability, from zero to five, as outlined by SAE. Level four, “high automation”, indicates that the vehicle is able to handle all driving tasks in most given situations – exceptions can include extreme weather conditions or driving environments that are unusual and would require the driver to resume control of the vehicle.
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. president & CEO Takahiro Hachigo announced that: “We will strive to achieve the technological establishment of Level 4 automated driving for personal car use by around 2025,” adding that Honda Motors are striving to provide their, “customers with a sense of confidence and trust by offering automated driving that will keep vehicles away from any dangerous situation and that will not make people around the vehicle feel unsafe.”
On the road today, Honda is advancing its safety and driver-assistive technologies in its vehicles by equipping them with Honda Sensing® and AcuraWatch™ suite of features. These features act as a bridge, both perceptually and technologically, to the future of highly-automated vehicles. Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) via the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS™), Lane Keeping Assist (LKAS), Road Departure Mitigation (RDM) and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) are example technologies which nearly half a million Honda and Acura vehicles on U.S roads are equipped with.
