Nissan's self-driving minivan will go on sale in Japan in August

Nissan's big push to offer 10 autonomous models in dealerships by 2020 has officially begun.

Nissan announced that it will sell its first car with autonomous tech onboard, the Serena minivan, to Japanese customers starting in August.

The Serena debuts the brand's self-driving system called ProPILOT, which is a Level 3 autonomous car. That means it can drive fully autonomously in a single lane on the freeway, controlling throttle, brake and steering while the driver sits back and relaxes.

This compares to semi-autonomous driving systems currently offered in the U.S., which fall into the Level 2 range of autonomy like Mercedes' Drive Pilot and Tesla Autopilot. That means, unlike with the Tesla Autopilot system, drivers of the Nissan Serena can safely remove their hands from the steering wheel and turn their attention away from driving without endangering safety. Read more...