TIER IV, a leader in open-source autonomous driving (AD) technology, proudly announces "fanfare", an innovative solution designed to ease and accelerate the production of AD-enabled electric vehicles (EVs).
This solution offers white-label EV models, empowering customers to commercialize these vehicles under their own brand names and efficiently incorporate AD features.
The Japanese Government is at the forefront of the Level 4[1] AD initiative, with a goal to deploy Level 4 AD services in at least 50 regions by 2025 and 100 regions by 2027 in Japan. However, the current market faces challenges in procuring affordable EVs certified for Level 4 AD services to meet the high demand.
In response, TIER IV has partnered with multiple car manufacturers to develop a scalable electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture[2] and a redundant drive-by-wire module, enabling customers to define AD features through add-on components.
To ease the production of EVs using these technologies and accelerate the deployment of driverless AD services, TIER IV has also published the "L4 Custom Design Guidelines."[3] These guidelines provide basic information intended to advise car manufacturers on integrating AD features into baseline EVs and testing them to comply with Level 4 standards. This initiative has created a new opportunity for manufacturing AD-enabled EVs in domestic production facilities.
Our EV solution "fanfare", established through these achievements, empowers customers to develop and operate AD-enabled EVs under their own brand names. To ensure a seamless customer experience, comprehensive after-sales services are also under preparation.
The initial plan is to introduce this new solution with a minibus model in 2023, gradually expanding the lineup to include multiple models by 2024. TIER IV aims to produce 300 units of AD-enabled EVs with partners in 2025 and continues building up an environment for partners to accelerate mass production of AD-enabled EVs for diverse purposes.
About TIER IV
