Future Jaguar Land Rover cars to communicate with traffic lights

Jaguar Land Rover Limited showcased its latest research advancements at the UK Autodrive demonstrations at the HORIBA MIRA Technology Park. Among the highlights is how their future vehicles will “talk” to other cars and infrastructures – including traffic lights.

They are producing a fleet of more than 100 research vehicles to develop and test technologies that enhance driving experience, as well as making driving smarter and cleaner over the next 4 years. This pretty much shows that developing Connected and Autonomous technologies are one of Jaguar Land Rover’s research priorities. 

The new features fitted in the research vehicles include Advanced Highway Assist, Electronic Emergency Brake Light Assist, and Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory.

Advanced Highway Assist is more of an autonomous version of Cruise Control. It allows the car to overtake automatically, as well as stay in its lane on a highway – without touching the steering wheel nor pressing the pedals.

On the other hand, Electronic Emergency Brake Light Assist will warn the driver if the vehicle in front brakes hard unexpectedly. This feature is said to work even in dense fogs or if the car in front is out of sight.

Lastly, to make sure that there won’t be any stops along the way, Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory connects the car to traffic lights in its route and recommends the best speed that he should go.

Jaguar Land Rover is said to be working with Ford and Tata Motors European Technical Center for the testing of the said technological advancements.

Our aim is to give drivers exactly the right information at the right time and collaborations with other manufacturers are essential to help us deliver this commitment to our customers,” said Jaguar Land Rover Head of Research Tony Harper.

The British marque also believes that there’s a huge potential for these technologies in the future. Although the project is focused on Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, this is just a major stepping stone towards the main goal – to have all connected and autonomous vehicles work together for an improved traffic flow, low CO2 emissions, and better driving experience.