Automated parking and more announced for Nissan LEAF

Nissan has announced the 2018 model of the Nissan LEAF, the next generation of the company’s zero-emission electric vehicle. The car is claimed to have been completely reinvented from the previous generation, now including an automated parking system utilising components from semiconductor supplier Renesas Electronics.

The vehicle offers a range of around 400 km, allowing drivers to enjoy a safe and long journey. The e-powertrain gives the car 110 kW of power output and 320 Nm of torque, improving acceleration. The 7″, full-colour (TFT) display has been redesigned to highlight key features, such as the Safety Shield technology power gauge and audio and navigation system information. Apple CarPlay has also been added.

The vehicle adapts ProPILOT autonomous drive technology, used during single-lane driving on the highway. It also offers ProPILOT Park, a full-fledged automated parking system using Renesas’s R-Car system-on-chip (SoC) as well as its RH850 automotive control microcontroller (MCU). When activated, ProPILOT Park enables a driver to park safely with a simple operation.

The R-Car SoC adopted in ProPILOT Park recognises spaces adequate for parking, verifies that there are no obstacles in the way and handles the role of issuing control commands for acceleration, braking, steering and shifting. The SoC includes Renesas’s parallel image processor (IMP) dedicated for image processing. The IMP takes the high-resolution images from the latest automotive CMOS digital cameras and performs high-speed, low-power signal processing.

“As part of our efforts to promote the spread of the driving assistant technologies, Nissan has been the pioneer in the industry in around view monitor implementation thanks to Renesas’s image processors,” said Takashi Yoshizawa, vice president and alliance global director of EE and Systems Engineering Division at Nissan Motor Corporation. “I am very pleased that together with Renesas we were able to bring the ProPILOT Park, which is a full-fledged automated parking feature, in our new Nissan LEAF.”

The RH850 MCU, meanwhile, accepts the chassis control commands from the R-Car SoC and transmits these commands to the various electronic control units (ECUs) used. This enables the Nissan LEAF’s ProPILOT Park to achieve safe parking operation.

Finally, e-Pedal technology lets drivers start, accelerate, decelerate and stop by increasing or decreasing the pressure applied to the accelerator. When the accelerator is fully released, regenerative and friction brakes are applied automatically, bringing the car to a complete stop — even on steep uphill slopes.

“The new Nissan LEAF, with its improved autonomy range, combined with the evolution of autonomous drive technology, such as ProPILOT Park, and the simple operation of the e-Pedal strengthens Nissan’s EV leadership, as well as the expansion of EVs globally,” said Hiroto Saikawa, president and chief executive officer of Nissan. “It also has core strengths that will be embodied by future Nissan models.”