British engineering to put autonomous vehicles on London's roads

News

Three UK companies are collaborating on a project that will see autonomous vehicles operating on the streets of London this summer.

Greenwich

Westfield Sportscars, Heathrow Enterprises and Oxbotica will use British engineering and software capabilities to develop pods that can operate autonomously and safely on the streets of London as part of the GATEway driverless car project that is taking place in the London borough of Greenwich.

The three GATEway project companies will co-develop Ultra PODS that are in service at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5 where they’ve carried 1.5m passengers and completed three million kilometres of fully automated operation.

Prof Nick Reed, academy director at TRL and technical director for GATEway said: “If the trials prove successful, we expect these iconic vehicles to become a familiar sight in many cities around the world.”

Led by Westfield Sportcars, these pods will now be adapted to navigate the streets of Greenwich without the need for dedicated tracks.

Westfield will act as the vehicle integrator and manufacturer of the pods. The company will also be responsible for the design and testing of the vehicles and ensuring they are manufactured in accordance with current type approval requirements.

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.  

Benefits of registering

  • In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends

  • Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year

  • Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox

Register
Or continue by

Signing in with your registered email address