Honda is firming up plans for its autonomous future. To date, the company has offered little more than a concept car it doesn’t intend to build (the battery-powered NeuV that was seen at the 2017 CES show) and a sparsely detailed partnership with Waymo. But late last week, Honda declared its intention to bring a fully self-driving vehicle to market by 2025.
Unlike the robo-taxis or autonomous shuttles that many transportation experts say will be the first automated vehicles to reach the road, Honda’s self-driving car is intended for personal use. Should the plans come to fruition, the vehicle might represent one of the first that buyers of regular cars could get their hands on.
Honda says the car will fit the definition of a Level 4 autonomous vehicle, in which the self-driving system can control a car for an entire journey, albeit one that might be within a geofenced location or have other operational restrictions. This new goal builds on earlier stated plans for Honda and Acura vehicles to have Level 3 capabilities by 2020. The company showcased its Level 4 prototypes on a closed course in Japan, demonstrating the workings of a sensor package that includes multiple cameras plus five lidar and five radar units.

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?There is an indicator that Honda may be having issues developing some of its automation systems in-house.?
? Navigant Research
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Curiously, Honda is developing a separate autonomous-driving system, geared toward urban driving scenarios, that om...