Japan wants AVs for 2020 Olympics

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are wanted by the Japanese government to transport 2020 Olympic Games athletes between venues.

A collaboration between the Japanese government, major car makers, top universities and tech companies has set the 2020 Tokyo games as a suitable target for delivering partially-automated vehicles.

In Japan, the AVs will still need a human driver for the games, finder.com.au reports. The Olympic taxis are expected to stick to select main roads and highways.

Nissan has at least one part-autonomous model with the Serena passenger van allowed on public roads. Since 2016, the Serena has had self-driving abilities that work within single highway lanes, and the company plans to expand its automation with lane-switching this year.

“We have set the 2020s as the target because that’s the earliest we want to make it a reality, not necessarily because of the Olympic Games,” Nissan’s Tomoyuki Akiyama says. ”That being said, we do hope to serve the increasing number of international visitors to Japan.”

Toyota and Honda are also working on similar models.

Fully driverless cars are still a way off in Japan, mainly because of challenges around the associated technology, such as precision mapping of roads, and laws which need adapting.

After 2025, self-driving cars should be ready for Japan’s public roads.

Meanwhile, a start-up backed by Toyota hopes to have a flying car light the Olympic torch at the Tokyo games.