Automobile manufacturers Jaguar Land Rover, Ford and Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC) have started collaborative trials of connected car features in Coventry, UK.

As part of this project, the companies will focus on the benefits of ‘talk’ feature in cars that will allow cars to talk with each other, as well as their surroundings, including connected traffic lights.

The companies will also test emergency vehicle warnings and emergency braking alerts technologies during this trial.

Jaguar Land Rover and TMETC will test their autonomous vehicle research technologies separately.

“The fundamental purpose of UK Autodrive is to get connected and autonomous vehicle technology out onto UK roads.”

Arup UK Autodrive project director Tim Armitage said: “The fundamental purpose of UK Autodrive is to get connected and autonomous vehicle technology out onto UK roads, so the start of trialling on the streets of Coventry is clearly a major landmark both for the project and for the UK as a whole.

“Our previous private test-track trials showed that the technology works, but it is only on real roads that we will start to see the scale of the benefits that it can bring to the general public.”

The connected car features that will be tested during the UK Autodrive programme include emergency vehicle warning, intersection collision warning, in-vehicle signage, electronic emergency brake light, green light optimal speed advisory, intersection priority management, and collaborative parking.

The project partners plan to conduct additional trials in Coventry and Milton Keynes early next year, which will be followed by a final series of open road demonstration events in both cities.