An AI-Powered Nissan Ariya Drove Me Around Tokyo. It Was Unremarkable in the Best Way

• What's new: Nissan is working on its next-generation autonomous driving technology, called AI-Drive.
• Why it matters: Nissan is leveraging AI tech to deliver an autonomous experience that behaves like a human driver.
• Edmunds says: A ride around Tokyo showed me that this tech might be ready for prime time sooner than you think.

I trepidatiously hopped in the back of an AI-Drive-equipped Ariya prototype with one of Nissan's engineers behind the wheel. He entered a preselected route into the EV's navigation system, told it to go, and from there, never once touched the pedals or steering wheel. The Ariya pulled out into traffic and drove me on a route through some of Tokyo's narrowest streets and trickiest intersections, including the Ginza Mitsukoshi crossing and through a dark Shimbashi underpass.

The Ariya's operation was what I'd call smooth but cautious, yet flawless at the same time. A busy right turn at an intersection was made tough by a large truck blocking the view of oncoming traffic. But the Ariya knew exactly how much to inch forward and could use its various sensors — one lidar, five radar and 11 cameras — to see through that obstacle, quickly completing the turn when a large enough gap in traffic appeared.

Later, while making a left turn onto a narrow one-way street, a pedestrian ran out into the crosswalk and caused the Ariya to slam on its brakes — exactly what I'd have done if I was behind the wheel. Rather than flummox the system, the AI-Drive tech shrugged it off and started to inch forward before the pedestrian cleared the crosswalk, the same way you or I would.

That last part is an important distinction: AI-Drive doesn't operate in black and white; instead, it focuses on natural driver habits. The AI tech could sense that the pedestrian was about to clear the crosswalk, so the car started to roll ahead rather than waiting for the entire roadway to be 100% clear. Two blocks later while approaching a crosswalk, the sidewalk was blocked by a tall truck, making it impossible to see if a pedestrian was about to cross. The Ariya slowed ever so slightly — and smoothly — just like how I'd lift my foot off the throttle, anticipating a possible quick-stop situation should an undetectable person start to cross the street.

Nissan says AI integration allows the autonomous software to detect a situation, predict what will happen, calculate multiple possible next steps, and prepare the car for all of them. Company executives call this the balance of risk versus agility, and it makes AI-Drive operate more naturally.

The Japanese-market Nissan Elgrand van will be the first vehicle to get AI-Drive tech, with a rollout target of early 2028. In the meantime, Nissan will launch a robotaxi pilot program in Tokyo later this year, which it hopes to expand to other regions around the world. Eventually, Nissan wants to offer AI-Drive on 90% of its global lineup — a lofty goal, indeed.

Robotaxis make the most sense for now. More and more Waymo Jaguar I-Pace robotaxis keep littering the streets around Edmunds HQ in Southern California, proving there's clearly customer demand for such a service. If Nissan's tech can work in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo's posh and crowded Ginza neighborhood, a place like Santa Monica should be a relative cinch. And while I still maintain AI is problematic for a whole host of reasons, it's certainly proving to be useful in Nissan's quest for self-driving cars.