WMG to road test self-driving cars in Coventry

The Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at The University of Warwick are set to test connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) on roads in Coventry and Birmingham due to their new, leading £ 25.3 million investment programme.

By working with various research partners within the industry, WMG will help pioneer the development of wireless networks that will enable an investigation of how vehicles behave in real situations.  The programme will be completely functioning and operating within the next 18-24 months.

Britain’s central CAV testbed will span 80 kilometres of urban roads in both Birmingham and Coventry. This will help position the Midlands as a centre for state of the art communicative and automotive technologies.

Midland roads will act as real world environments in order to upgrade CAV technology as part of a Government project to test infrastructure programmes. This also includes five other locations in the UK.

A total of £51 million has been awarded to this part of the programme. However, the largest portion of the money, £31 million, has been allocated to the West Midlands.

These interesting projects will run not only in the West Midlands but also in Oxfordshire, Milton Keynes and London.

The ultimate goal of the Meridian programme is to create the foundations for a future, world class transport technology by developing autonomous vehicles driving in the UK.

WMG will work with the Meridian to take the crucial first step towards the UK’s future automotive industry and its newfound vehicle testing capabilities.

Deploying the CAVs would have benefits, both socially and economically. Driving error in road collisions will be eliminated and as many as 4.2 million accidents will be prevented annually, according to The Eno Centre’s study.

MP Julian Knight also encourages reluctant motorists to buy self-driving cars, according to the Birmingham Mail.

They have:“the huge potential to save thousands of lives by cutting the number of human error car accidents on our roads each year.”

A decrease of traffic congestion partly created by behaviour of human drivers could also be possible.

Other benefits may include the formulation of new business opportunities in the UK within the automotive, communications, infrastructure and transport sectors.

WMG’s expert in CAV technology, Professor Paul Jennings, is the leader of the project.

He stated: “The Midlands has a proud heritage of pioneering vehicle development, and I am delighted to be part of the next era – bringing CAVs onto the road and allowing all of us to reap the benefits as soon as possible.”

Warwick and Leamington’s MP, Matt Western, also urges the importance of the governments’ funding towards the production of electric vehicles.

Introducing autonomous vehicles in Warwick and Leamington will change the air quality in their town centres dramatically.

Both areas have a huge potential to host a battery prototype centre that will sufficiently adapt to this rapidly changing technology as they are “at the heart of the automotive industry.”

Mr. Western commented: “Our buses, lorries and vans are among the dirtiest vehicles in our urban areas and there is perhaps greater urgency to get them off the roads.”

The control room for the testbed will be within the National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC). It combines automotive expertise and provides huge amounts of research capability