Japan Launches a Development Project for Self-Driving EV Taxis

The company also hopes automakers will adopt Autoware to develop their own autonomous vehicles, and Suzuki and Isuzu Motors have already invested in Tier IV. In this respect, Tier IV’s strategy is different from that of Waymo , a US company that is vertically integrating the development of most of the technology required for self-driving taxis.

A Good Role Model

In rural areas of Japan, public transportation infrastructure such as trains and buses are being shut down one after another, and Japan’s aging population has resulted in a serious shortage of taxi and bus drivers. Given this situation, regulators have raised the possibility that self-driving taxis will no longer need approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism if they are operate jointly with existing taxi companies.

Even now, self-driving taxis can be operated as long as there is a person in the driver’s seat who also acts as a supervisor, so robotaxis are easy to introduce into an area even if professional drivers are in short supply. Even if fully autonomous driving is realized, there is a good chance that it will be possible to respond by remote monitoring in some areas.

Tier IV hopes that by quickly demonstrating its model for self-driving taxis, more corporate partners will adopt the company’s technology and hardware to provide services. “We think it would be enough for us to commercialize our own areas in about three locations,” says Tier IV’s Kato. “By making this a reference model, we want to make it easy for partner companies to deploy their services.”

In other words, just as Google has developed its Pixel series as a model in the world of Android smartphones, it would make sense for Tier IV to package and provide everything from the platform to the solutions and vehicles needed for operation, and demonstrate their commercial operation as a package.

The company is also looking to distribute Autoware around the globe. “Japan is the only country that is showing the service as a reference model,” says Kato, “but we are considering providing software, hardware, solutions, and other things to the global market.” In fact, Autoware is most widely used in China and is spreading to the United States, Taiwan, and other countries.

“In the future, we will be able to flexibly respond to requests depending on the region and demand, providing only software, only parts, or even entire vehicles and systems,” says Kato. “Which part will take up more weight will depend on the country or region, and frankly we don’t know yet. Still, we want to be in a position to provide everything if there is a demand.”