Nissan Serena 2017 autonomous drive review | quick tech test video

Richard Berry takes a look at the ProPilot autonomous driving technology featured in the 2017 Nissan Serena people mover at a secret Nissan test facility in Japan.

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Since the dawn of time if you wanted somebody to do the driving for you, you had to pay them and they were usually called Jeeves or Jenkins. And then as technology became more sophisticated and self driving cars came along we still had to pay for the priviledge we had to pay someboday else called tesla or Mercedes-Benz

But all that is changing – this is Nissan's first self-driving car. It's called the Serena and I'm here at a top secret test track in Japan to drive it. Let's check it out.

Nissan calls the self-driving tech ProPilot and for now it's a bit like a very sophisticated cruise control.

This first version uses a moncamera to scan the road ahead and is able to brake, accelerate and steer on its own – but only in a single lane situation.

Let me explain – to engage ProPilot you tap that button there on the steering wheel, adjust the speed and the distance you want to keep from the car in front and then hit the set button.

The small grey steering wheel in the display will turn green when the car starts to drive itself.

The car will keep itself in its lane and if the vehicle in front slows down the Propilot car will too. If the car ahead stops the ProPilot car will also stop and then move away when the other car does. Great for bumper to bumper traffic.

That really is the extent of its self-driving ability for now. Look right ProPilot is not as advanced as Tesla's autonomous driving system or Benz's self driving system. It's partial autonomy. But Nissan says that by 2018 ProPliot will have advanced to the point where it can change lanes and then by 2020 it will be able to drive itself through urban environments – even intersections.

Why put ProPilot on a people mover? Well Nissan said they wanted to bring autonomous cars to everyday people and here in Japan people movers are hugely popular – like our SUVs.

In Europe ProPilot will debut in the Qashqai SUV in 2017.

What about Australia – well Nissan are keeping tight lipped about it.

Well that was just a taste test of Nissan's first self driving car. Now the Serena isn't coming to Australian but the self driving technology inside it will be rolled out to Nissans all over the world including Australia.

It's great to see affordable brands like Nissan getting behind self-driving technology. Autonomous driving shouldn't be about luxury, it should be about mobility – for everybody.

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