NASA and Nissan are teaming up for a lofty five-year program to develop a fleet of autonomous cars that produce zero emissions.
A joint press release stated, “Researchers from the two organizations will test a fleet of zero-emission autonomous vehicles at Ames to demonstrate proof-of-concept remote operation of autonomous vehicles for the transport of materials, goods, payloads and people. For NASA, these tests parallel the way it operates planetary rovers from a mission control center. The first vehicle of that fleet should be testing at the facility by the end of 2015.”
President and CEO of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, says autonomous features will be offered in Nissan vehicles as early as 2016 with plans to release self-driving cars capable of driving in nearly all conditions by 2020. “This partnership brings together the best and brightest of NASA and Nissan and validates our investments in Silicon Valley,” he said.
NASA has already been working on autonomous vehicles at Ames Research Center in California.