Japanese giant Honda never fails to impress us. Be it inventing the VTEC engines or putting one in a McLaren F1 car in the late 1980s, driven by the two of best drivers of all time, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost and dominating with some authority. Cut to the present, and future electric mobility and autonomous driving are talks of the town. And, adding to its authority in the present, Honda has launched next-gen Honda Sensing elite safety system with not 1, not 2 but level 3 autonomous driving features.
More details
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. will begin lease sales in Japan, on March 5, 2021, of the Honda Legend EX equipped with Honda Sensing elite. Honda Sensing Elite builds on the functionality of Honda Sensing, which is fitted as standard throughout Honda’s European automobile range.
Features
Some features of the level 3 autonomous tech under Honda Sensing elite include –
- ‘Hands-off’ Functionality
While driving with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Low-Speed Follow and Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) activated, when certain conditions are satisfied on an expressway, the system will assist the driving operations even while the driver has their hands off the steering wheel.
- Active Lane Change with Hands-off Function
While driving using the Adaptive in Lane Driving, when the driver switches on the Active Lane Change with Hands-off Function, the system assesses the situation and assists the lane change and/or passing of the other vehicle under certain conditions. When the system detects a car in front being driven at low speed, the system notifies the driver and then assists the passing and returning to the original lane.
- Traffic Jam Pilot
While driving using the Adaptive in Lane Driving, when the vehicle gets caught in traffic congestion under certain conditions, the system takes control of acceleration, braking and steering while monitoring the vehicle’s surroundings on behalf of the driver. The system drives, stops and resumes driving within the same lane while maintaining a proper following distance in accordance with the speed of the vehicle in front. While the vehicle is under the control of the system, the driver can watch television/DVD on the navigation screen or operate the navigation system to search for a destination address, which helps mitigate driver fatigue and stress while driving in a traffic jam.
Other notable features include Adaptive in Lane Driving, Active Lane Change Assist with Hands-off Function, Emergency Stop Assist, Human-Machine Interface (HMI) etc.