Toyota to put self-driving cars on the highway by 2020

The company's ''Highway Teammate'' feature, which has undergone testing in a modified Lexus GS on Tokyo's Shuto Expressway, enables automated driving on highways once a car entered the on-ramp all the way through to the off-ramp.

The company said on-board technology evaluated traffic conditions, made decisions, and took action during highway driving, including merging, exiting, changing lanes, and maintaining a safe distance between vehicles.

The company added the prototype car used road map data and multiple external sensors to recognise nearby vehicles and hazards, and select appropriate routes and lanes depending on the destination.

The Japanese auto giant, which demonstrated the technology at an event in Tokyo on 6 October said it was ramping up research into and development of automated driving technologies, with the goal of launching products based on Highway Teammate by around 2020.

According to industry experts, Toyota was taking a different approach to automated driving than potential rivals Google. The Japanese automaker's technology aimed to make the car a partner, or teammate - not do away with the driver entirely.

The demonstration served to show the progress Toyota had made in developing technology that essentially turned cars into co-pilots that boosted the driver's skills.

''The technology we're showing today is at the level where all the operation for driving is possible by itself,'' Moritaka Yoshida, Toyota's chief safety technology officer said in an interview. ''We will keep increasing its accuracy.''

The concept car, which was test-driven came equipped with more sophisticated autonomous-driving features than at a similar event Toyota hosted two years ago.

At that time, the automaker highlighted a system for tracing lanes and keeping the car centered, with the vehicle incorporating radar that detected vehicles or pedestrians up ahead, automatically decelerating or triggering steering assistance to avoid collision.

Currently the modified Lexus concept is only capable of switching into autonomous mode on Tokyo expressways. The car indicates on its center screen and also plays an audio message when it wants the driver to take over if other vehicles were not giving it room to move.

Returning to manual mode can be achieved by simply grabbing the wheel or pressing the brake.