Lexus New Car Will Be Equipped with a New L3 Level Automatic Driving Assistance System

Recently, koji Sato, President of Lexus, said that he would launch a new car this year, which would be equipped with a new automatic driving assistance system.It is reported that the system can automatically change lanes and support air upgrading. In addition, the new system is likely to reach the L3 autopilot level.In fact, in 2017, Lexus demonstrated the LS concept concept, which is equipped with highway semi-automatic driving assistance system.

At that time, Lexus worked with the Japanese government to map all highways in the country. In the future, this new car may also land in Japan first.However, some people questioned whether "today's roads comply with L3 automatic driving".Therefore, the new car will be equipped with L2 level driving assistance system when it comes out in the future. As for the possible L3 level automatic driving system, it will also be upgraded by air.

However, Lexus officials say its upcoming automatic driving technology "Highway Teammate" is a very advanced automatic driving system. Drivers can move their hands away from the steering wheel when driving on expressways.Koji Sato said that the system will be more advanced and safer than Tesla's "similar" automatic driving technology, and described the system as "let go, but don't let go of your eyes".According to foreign media reports, the highway teammate will be more similar to GM's super cruise assisted driving system than Tesla's autopilot.

In other words, highway teammate allows the driver to remove his hand from the steering wheel, but it will only be activated when the vehicle is driving on a planned multi lane highway. This method is considered to be much safer than autopilot, which has no geographical restrictions."All our vehicles need to provide safe and confident driving," koji Sato said. "Our goal is to share this technology and extend it to other vehicles."Koji Sato said they would apply highway teammate to all Lexus models. But considering that different countries and regions have different supervision on semi-automatic driving cars, whether the system will really take to the streets remains to be seen.

It is worth noting that Lexus's automatic driving will "start from the L2 level first, but it can support OTA upgrade, so it can continue to upgrade in the future".Although Lexus's automatic driving is not as cool as Tesla's all along, and there are even few reports, this is the first time Lexus disclosed its intelligent progress outside Japan's domestic market last year.In fact, Lexus has been committed to the development of automatic driving assistance function and has made cooperation with Toyota.

According to Lei Feng, Toyota brand models facing the mass market are about to get the injection of a new generation of active safety technology from its high-end brand Lexus. That is, the application of assisted driving ADAS system.According to the plan, Toyota will begin to adopt the above new technologies in Japan in the second half of 2020, and then successively deploy them to other global markets.The carmaker is transferring Lexus's active safety technology to Toyota brand models as part of Toyota safety sense / TSS, an automatic driving assistance system that reaches L2 level.

In addition, Lexus said: all electric before 2025.It is reported that Lexus plans to launch 10 electric vehicles by 2025. At the same time, every existing Lexus model will have an electric version for consumers to choose from.Koji Sato, executive vice president of Lexus international, said: "Lexus strategy includes hybrid, plug-in hybrid, pure electric and fuel cell." which model matches which type of powertrain will depend on various factors, including market demand and model restrictions.

He also added: "no electric vehicle can be universal in the world. Different regional legal and social conditions have created that automobile manufacturers must provide a variety of choices. In the future, we will create different electric vehicles according to consumer needs and market background."At the same time, Lexus will not ignore the research and development of fuel cell vehicles, but if we really want to launch fuel cell vehicles, we still need to fully consider the infrastructure conditions in various regions. Therefore, at least in the United States, Lexus will first launch hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and pure electric vehicles.It is reported that Lexus will build a special pure electric vehicle platform in battery management, reducing unnecessary parts and motor R & D. At present, Lexus is already moving towards the goal of electrification of all products. Of the current 11 models, only 5 are not hybrid vehicles.

Nowadays, the wave of intellectualization and electrification is surging, and no automobile brand can sit idly by. Facing the future, the coping strategies of various automobile brands are different - and the differences of intelligent strategies are more obvious among luxury brands. We will wait and see what the future of Lexus will be like.