We reveal the company's technology roadmap
A FEW things strike you when entering the Honda research and development facility in Tochigi, Japan. Firstly, all the employees are dressed in brilliant-white attire more suited to a private hospital than an automotive firm. Everyone is also friendly and it is difficult to distinguish management from the floor workers. This was confirmed when Takahiro Hachigo, Honda’s president and CEO, entered wearing the same outfit to deliver his speech about the future of Honda technology. The only reason we could tell it was him was because the large room quite suddenly went quiet.
Hachigo’s address focused primarily on two elements: the advancement of mobility; and creating value to people’s lives towards 2030. This formed the basis of the technologies experienced first-hand.
AUTONOMOUS DRIVING: ON THE HIGHWAY
The idea of autonomous driving, according to Honda, is not to take driving pleasure away from drivers, but to ensure an accident-free and available-to-all mobility future. Honda Sensing technology, which features all the conventional safety systems, including lane-keep assist, forward-collision warning and adaptive cruise control, will soon be standard on all its automotive products.
As part of our trip to visit Honda was an opportunity to test this technology and easing my way to the oval at Tochigi behind the wheel of a Honda Legend, the engineer instructs me to hit the auto button on the steering wheel. An audible message and two blue lights confirm that I may remove my hands from the wheel and feet from the pedals. The car joins the circuit, indicator flashing, and continues to drive by itself. Another vehicle (strategically placed by a Honda engineer) is driving in the slow lane and obstructing my progress. The autonomous pilot casually indicates right and completes an overtaking manoeuvre smoothly and safely.
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