Toyota Planning on Releasing Self-Driving Cars by 2020

Oct 8, 2015

At our Toyota dealership serving Waukegan, the vehicles we sell get more complex each year. Besides hybrids like the 2015 Toyota Prius, cars like the 2016 Toyota Camry have safety systems that can stop the vehicle if the driver doesn’t respond in time. According to Toyota, Classic Toyota may start carrying vehicles with self-driving technology in 2020 that would eliminate the tedium of your daily highway commute.

Recently Toyota has been testing out a vehicle feature they call Highway Teammate on the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo, which they recently revealed at the beginning of October. It’s part of a larger investment by the automaker to boost self-driving technology.

The feature is able to sense when you enter the on ramp to a highway and activates. Road map technology lets the vehicle know where it’s headed while sensors outfitted around the exterior of the vehicle let it actually recognize its surroundings.

These sensors enable the car to merge and change lanes while keeping a respectable distance between vehicles. It knows if a car is stopping ahead of you or that there’s a barrier to the left the car shouldn’t drive into. This is going to be a boon to drivers who can’t stand the hassle of start-and-stop highway commuting.

The way Toyota envisions self-driving cars to go is first introducing features and technologies that take the annoying parts out of the driving experience like the Highway Partner. You’ll still drive the car at times, but you’ll have a “partner” if you don’t want to like during rush hour. Even more important is that Toyota cars will get even better at preventing accidents making driving safer for everyone.

While self-driving cars are still a ways out, Classic Toyota carries the current Toyota lineup, which is filled with advanced connectivity and safety technology. Come to our Toyota dealership in Waukegan, IL at 515 N. Green Bay Road to see what we have in stock and take a test drive!