How Nissan is Using AI to Develop New Cars Faster

Source: Ross Ballot

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days. With computers smarter than ever and the associated intelligence only getting better by the second, automakers are employing said tech to help quicken the usually painfully long process of developing new vehicles. Nissan is one of the manufacturers working to incorporate AI, and the fruits of their labor are substantial.

Source: Ross Ballot

The average vehicle model lasts roughly four to eight years on the market before being replaced by an updated model or, in less fortunate cases, phased out entirely. But before the first model year of a vehicle hits dealer lots, there are years of development that happen behind the scenes.

Engineering, research and development (R&D), and design take command, with close watch from finance, product planning, marketing and so on. Those first few pieces though are the meat and potatoes of the operation; mechanical, electrical, structural, safety, and ergonomic developments are massively intensive processes involving hundreds or thousands of people.

As a result, conceiving and subsequently constructing a new vehicle is a process that takes years upon years. It’s labor and financially intensive, and by no means easy. Thanks to AI, that time span is changing.

Source: Nissan

With the development of its new N7 EV, Nissan claims it was able to cut the time required to develop the car from 55 months all the way down to 26 months. That’s over 50% quicker, for those counting.

Nissan Motor President Ivan Espinosa said, “A big part of this is built on AI capabilities and the utilization of new tools, more digital tools in the design phase, in the testing phase, in the manufacturing phase.” Nissan is going to use these AI-based processes for its next round of vehicles, too, and don’t be surprised to see that flow over to Infiniti as well as Honda, which the manufacturer has discussed…

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