The service using the LEAF electric car is jointly developed with DeNA Co., Ltd, a Tokyo company that makes and operates a mobile and online services covering games, e-commerce, entertainment, healthcare and automotive.
During the field test, in the Minatomirai district of Yokohama, in Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture, the participants will be able to travel in vehicles equipped with autonomous driving technology along a set route. The route spans about 4.5km between Nissan’s global headquarters and the Yokohama World Porters shopping centre.
For efficient fleet operation and to instil customers confidence, Nissan and DeNA have set up a remote monitoring center that uses the two companies’ advanced technologies. Nissan and DeNA will also test Easy Ride’s unique service functions.
Using a dedicated mobile app, passengers can input what they want to do via text or voice and choose from a list of recommended destinations. An in-car tablet screen will show selections of nearly 500 recommended places of interest and events in the vicinity. Additionally, about 40 discount coupons for retailers and restaurants in the area are available for download on the participants’ own smartphones.
Participants will be asked to complete a survey about their overall user experience, usage of content and coupons from local retailers and restaurants, and preferred pricing for the Easy Ride service.
Nissan and DeNA will use the survey results as they continue to develop the offering, and for future field tests. The field test will enable Nissan and DeNA to learn from the experience of operating the Easy Ride service trial with public participation.
Both companies will also work to develop service designs for driverless environments, expanded service routes, vehicle distribution logic, pick-up/drop-off processes and multilingual support. The companies aim to launch Easy Ride in a limited environment at first, and then introduce a full service in the early 2020s.
