Hands-on with ProPilot Assist, Nissan's commute easer
Coming soon to the 2018 Leaf EV and other vehicles, ProPilot Assist keeps you on the straight and narrow to ease highway life.
If you've experienced lane-keep assist in most vehicles, you know that such systems generally serve their purpose — keeping you from wandering out of your lane. But you may also know they tend to do so at a high cost, as they're often incredibly annoying. A recent Insurance Institute For Highway Safety study found that nearly half of all drivers actually turned off their car's lane-departure warning systems out of frustration. The study paints a ready illustration of how the best-intentioned active safety features can be poorly executed.
Fortunately, if my first test of Nissan's forthcoming ProPilot Assist system is any indication, you won't soon be reaching for its off button...
Set to arrive on the second-generation Leaf EV this fall and spread rapidly across Nissan's lineup thereafter, ProPilot Assist leverages forward-facing radar and a front camera mounted atop the windshield to read highway lane markings and scan the road ahead. When active, the system works to keep the vehicle in-lane and at a safe distance from vehicles ahead using the accelerator, brakes and steering system.
Most importantly, PPA isn't hardware that allows the vehicle to ping-pong disconcertingly back and forth between the white lines, it keeps you locked in and dead-center at all times, only allowing for a very slight drift from the middle in freeway bends to allow for cornering G-forces and help the car's motions feel more natural...
ProPilot comes across as very smartly executed. There are a number of automakers that already offer similar technology, but it's typically featured on much costlier luxury cars. Nissan hasn't priced ProPilot Assist yet, but after it debuts on the Leaf, it's expected to become available in short order on many of the company's higher-volume, lower cost vehicles -- models like the Rogue seen here. Based on my first impressions, that's good news — both for Nissan buyers and for the motorists who share the road with them.