​Autonomous Mobility Becoming A Reality In UK Cities​

ServCity is the UK's newest autonmous mobility service research project, has begun testing on the streets on London. The project will find ways to help cities harness the latest autonomous vehicle technologies and successfully embed them into complex urban environments. Over three years, six partners - Nissan, the Connected Places Catapult, TRL, Hitatchi Europe, the University of Nottingham and SBD Automotive - will work together to innovate deploying autonomous vehicles onto the streets.

After months developing, including simulation and testing on private tracks, the ServCity Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) has reached the stage in which it is now able to deploy its vehicles in London. Built upon a 100% electric Nissan LEAF, the CAV uses roadside sensors and processing power to creative a cooperative infastructure environment, which will add to the CAVs own situational awareness.

The project is backed by Government funding and aims at not only making autonomous vehicles more user friendly, but also gives users confidence that they can respond quickly and safely and to all types of challenges they face on the roads.




Bob Bateman (Project Manager) from Nissan explains:

“We are extremely proud to be a part of the ServCity project and are excited to trial our 100% electric Nissan LEAF as test vehicles. Our Nissan Intelligent Mobility strategy strives to achieve a mobility future that is more electric, more autonomous and more connected and we look forward to working in collaboration with ServCity’s other partners to achieve this.”

Edward Mayo (Programme Manager) from the Connect Places Catapult said:

“The Connected Places Catapult supports organisations in harnessing emerging technologies and developing new services. ServCity is a perfect example of how we can use this approach to deploy autonomous vehicles on a wide scale to achieve the aim of Intelligent Mobility and improve the movement of both people and goods. The commencement of testing in London represents an important milestone to the ServCity project.”

Lucien Linders (General Manager of SMLL) adds:

“As world leaders in creating the future of transport, TRL is committed to developing safe systems that are accessible to everyone. TRL’s Smart Mobility Living Lab is a real world urban testbed whose roadside sensor infrastructure and facilities support the development process for CAVs to acquire better shared situational awareness. As the flagship urban test facility of CAM Testbed UK in London, we are uniquely placed to test and trial future mobility services in preparation for their commercial deployment. We continue to be very proud of offering our expertise to this ground-breaking ServCity project and working together with the other project partners.”

Nick Blake (Chief Innovation Strategist) from Hitachi Europe explains:

“The team at Hitachi’s European Research & Development Group is focused on tackling the complex technical challenges involved in autonomous driving in congested urban environments. Our role in the ServCity project is to develop the technology behind predicting – and safely responding to – other moving objects such as pedestrians, cyclists and cars, as well as delivering accurate and robust localisation solutions.”

Gary Burnett (Chair of Transport Human Factors) from the Human Factors Research Group at the University of Nottingham stated:

“Our team brings significant expertise in conducting and analysing user studies to evaluate human-computer interactions. We are excited by our role as part of ServCity to generate theories, models and methods behind the user experience of the vehicle occupants. To this end, we will ensure that the design and development of the autonomous vehicle service is user-centred and truly meets consumer needs.”

Andrew Hart (Director) from SBD Automotive explains:

“Robotaxis have the potential to fundamentally transform mobility for both consumers and the cities they operate in. The user experience lies at the heart of that transformation, as operators will need to carefully balance customer expectations with real-world technological constraints. SBD is proud to be a part of the ServCity project, bringing our decades of hands-on experience from working with car makers to help define and test different approaches to delivering a seamless Robotaxi experience.”


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*Range figures are obtained from laboratory testing in accordance with EU legislation and are intended for comparison between the different types of vehicles. The information does not refer to a particular individual vehicle and does not constitute part of the offer. Figures shown are for comparability purposes; only compare figures with vehicles tested to the same technical procedures. The electric range shown achieved using the new (WLTP) test procedure. Figures obtained after the battery was fully charged. Actual real world driving results may vary depending on factors such as the starting charge of the battery, accessories fitted after registration, weather conditions, driving styles and vehicle load.