The first-ever Self-Driving Range Rover Sport has been out and about on UK’s public roads recently. It was a trial, to tell you the truth, the £20 million government-funded Autodrive project. But that doesn’t take away from how impressive the whole feat was vis-a-vis the technologies used. 

What all that means is, do not expect to see that Self-Driving Range Rover Sport in the showrooms anytime soon. You may however, see a watered down version in the near future. How that works is that technologies used i the autonomous version will trickle down to production models as driver-assist features. Chances are the next Range Rover you’ll buy will already be semi-autonomous.

Among the main technologies in this Self-Driving Range Rover Sport one can mention the modified Adaptive Cruise Control. It’s been improved to take in data from additional navigation sensors, RADAR and LIDAR. This enables the vehicle to handle roundabouts, traffic lights, pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles on complicated roads. Right now JLR has no plans to make an offroad version of this. But that wouldn’t make sense, anyway. People take their Range Rovers offroad because they want to enjoy conquering nature in them. What would be the point if the vehicle can do that all by itself?

Mark Cund, Jaguar Land Rover Autonomous Vehicle Research Manager, said: “The Coventry Ring Road is known for its complicated slip roads and exits. It makes for very challenging conditions, especially when under pressure in the rush hour. Our self-driving car is not impacted by the same pressure, frustrations or fatigue that a driver may experience and so it’s capable of turning a potentially very stressful situation into a completely stress-free one.”