Trials of Tata Hexa Autonomous vehicle prototype
have commenced in the UK. The trials being conducted are part of the UK
Autodrive project. Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC) responsible
for developing the autonomous Tata Hexa is a partner.
The in-city trials of the autonomous Tata Hexa are
being conducted on the streets of central Coventry. UK Autodrive is UK’s
largest trial of connected and autonomous vehicle technology. The list of
partners, aside from Tata Motors (TMETC), also includes Ford and Jaguar Land
Rover.
These trials aims to explore the benefits of having
cars that can “talk” to each other and their surroundings. Connected traffic
lights, emergency vehicle warnings, and emergency braking alerts among are some
of the technologies being trialled.
Apart from pursuing autonomous and connected car
technologies, TMETC has also been actively developing EVs. In September this
year, it revealed the Tata Tiago EV concept at LCV 2017 in the UK. This project
will play a key role in the development of Tigor EV that Tata will supply to
the Indian Government.