Panasonic to launch autonomous cart ride-share in 2021

Panasonic is to launch a ride-sharing service of autonomous electric carts in Japan in 2021 for small towns and other ‘confined’ areas. A report by The Mainichi says the company is now using four carts to transport more than 14,000 employees around its headquarters in Osaka Prefecture ahead of the commercial launch. The carts operate at 20 km/h per hour on a 2.4km loop around the premises, which is around 468,000 m2 in size. An spokesperson is quoted as saying during a press conference: "We are not tryin
November 6, 2019 Read time: 1 min

598 Panasonic is to launch a ride-sharing service of autonomous electric carts in Japan in 2021 for small towns and other ‘confined’ areas.

A report by %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external The Mainichi false https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20191017/p2g/00m/0bu/098000c false false%>says the company is now using four carts to transport more than 14,000 employees around its headquarters in Osaka Prefecture ahead of the commercial launch.

The carts operate at 20 km/h per hour on a 2.4km loop around the premises, which is around 468,000 m2 in size.

An spokesperson is quoted as saying during a press conference: "We are not trying to make high-speed autonomous cars because we are not an automaker. We would like to create slow and human-friendly mobility.”

Each cart comes with four seats, sensors, cameras and telecommunications equipment.

Panasonic is hoping the service will be introduced in theme parks or venues for large events such as the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Registration for new Highways UK conference now open
    October 27, 2015
    Taking place on 25- 26 November at ExCeL London, Highways UK is a major new event bringing together those responsible for planning, developing, managing and maintaining the UK's road network. The free to attend exhibition includes many organisations in the sector including Highways England, Mott MacDonald, BAM Nuttall, Colas, Thales, Clearview Traffic Group, Kier Services, Costain, Tarmac and Atkins. Keynote speakers include Mike Brown, who was recently confirmed as TfL’s Transport Commissioner, Andrew Jone
    Read More
  • Uber: AB5 ‘does not automatically reclassify’ drivers
    September 18, 2019
    Business life may be about to get trickier for transportation network companies following the passing of a new law in California which aims to give gig economy workers more rights. Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), which is due to come into effect in January next year, says that “a person providing labour or services for remuneration shall be considered an employee rather than an independent contractor” - unless three points are proved. One, that “the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is free from the con
    Read More
  • Enhanced WISETRIP final event
    August 20, 2014
    The Enhanced WISETRIP final event, which takes place in Brussels on 29 August, will provide an opportunity to showcase the achievements of the Enhanced WISETRIP project and contribute to the debate on priorities for delivering EU-wide multi-modal travel information. Enhanced WISETRIP has developed a unified intermodal planner for international journeys which incorporates functions for planning, booking and travelling multimodal journeys adapted to user needs including multiple trip criteria, environment
    Read More
  • Transportation app challenge at World Congress
    August 11, 2014
    The Youth Connection Showcase at the ITS World Congress Detroit is presenting the Road Code challenge – a code-a-thon competition to inspire creative app development around transportation. College students, entrepreneurs, and tech start-ups, will be encouraged to think big and think creative; mobile connectivity, or safety, or convenience. Teams of coders will descend on Grand Circus, an inspirational learning facility in the heart of downtown Detroit on Friday, Sept. 5, 2014 at 7.00pm and kick off 24 hour
    Read More

Highlighted Content