Test tracks to be built by Toyota for their self-driven cars

KUALA LUMPUR: Toyota is placing all their bets on autonomous cars and has notified on Thursday that they are opening a track this year in order to do driving simulations that are hazardous to be performed on public roads.

Toyota has confirmed the fact that they will be building their own test drive tracks in Ottawa Lake, Michigan, outside Detroit and not far from Toyota’s engineering centre. They will be now able to test their autonomous vehicles, as confirmed on Thursday. The new test center is said to be operated by the Toyota Research Institute itself and Ryan Eustice, the TRI senior vice president of automated driving of Toyota company said that by constructing this track for themselves, they will now be able to design the cars around their unique testing needs and through rapidly advanced capabilities.

The senior vice president also mentioned that this new site will provide them with the flexibility to modify the driving scenarios that go beyond the limits of their technologies and will move them closer to conceiving a human-driven car which will be incapable of causing a terrible crash. It is also said that the famous automakers have already begun to test autonomous or automated cars on public roads in the United States. However, they have become more cautious after a fatal crash which happened in Arizona of a self-driving car operated by Uber’s research unit.

The new test centre is all set to open in October 2018, on a 60-acre site which will depict the congested urban environment with slick surfaces and a  four-lane divided highway with high-speed entrance and exit ramps. The company expressed their hesitation towards disclosing the full budget for this project. Toyota spokespeople also continued to say that they will continue to test autonomous vehicles in two other test tracks which are near Detroit; the simulations of which include real-world driving situations and conditions.