HumanDrive, a research consortium led by Nissan, has completed a 230-mile self-navigated journey on UK roads.

The ‘Grand Drive’ journey was completed on 28 November last year but was announced by the research consortium yesterday.

This was claimed to be the longest autonomous journey carried out in the UK and was conducted on a complex route.

For the completion of the task, HumanDrive fitted a Nissan LEAF vehicle with GPS, radar, LIDAR, and cameras.

The technology helped the vehicle navigate through motorways, junctions, and high-speed lanes with no road markings, white lines, or curbs.

The research project not only used advanced positioning technology but also a test track-based activity to explore human-like driving with the help of machine learning in order to boost the user experience.

Nissan Technical Centre for Europe project manager Bob Bateman said: “The HumanDrive project allowed us to develop an autonomous vehicle that can tackle challenges encountered on UK roads that are unique to this part of the world, such as complex roundabouts and high-speed country lanes with no road markings, white lines or curbs.”

The HumanDrive project is jointly funded by the UK Government through the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and Innovate UK, as well as nine other consortium partners.

The joint funding package for the project amounts to £13.5m.

UK Future of Transport Minister George Freeman said: “The UK is fast becoming a leader in intelligent and automated vehicle and traffic management technology, a huge global sector set to create thousands of jobs.

“Our Future of Mobility: Urban Strategy is supporting transport innovation for cleaner, greener and smarter transport, and Nissan’s successful HumanDrive project is an exciting example of how the next phase of the UK’s transport revolution could look.”

The research also focused on boosting cybersecurity features in autonomous vehicles, developing testing and safety methodologies and exploring the implications of autonomous vehicles on the wider transport system.