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One step closer to autonomous travel on New Zealand roads

23 November, 2016

You’ve seen the self-driving cars running people over on the internet, and the likes of newspapers being read on main highways thanks to autonomous technology. Now New Zealand will be hopping on the today-of-tomorrow bandwagon with the first demonstration of a self-driving vehicle on Kiwi roads having taken place on November 17.

The joint venture between New Zealand Traffic Institute (Trafinz), Volvo, New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), the Ministry of Transport, and car manufacturer Volvo, set a self-driving car loose on Tauranga’s roads where it travelled up to 15km in normal traffic conditions, without needing input from a driver.

According to Volvo Cars NZ General mManager Coby Duggan, the vehicle self-drives using sophisticated technology to navigate the roads, which operates at ‘level 2’ — a global standard that measures the degree of the vehicle’s autonomy.

“Under level 2 or partial automation, the automated system executes accelerating, braking, and steering, however the driver will be required to interact with the vehicle and intervene if necessary as they are ultimately responsible for how the vehicle operates.

“By 2021 we expect Volvos to be at level 4 or high automation, where the system will monitor the driving environment and will maintain control even if the driver does not intervene when advised by the vehicle,” he said.

So forget sending the kids off to school in your soon-to-be self-driving car, as a driver is still needed to periodically confirm an occupant is present — unless you want them to rack up the demerits early.

Henrik Järlebratt, senior product director from Volvo headquarters, broke down the science behind the technology to Trafinz conference attendees, and said that he is pleased to see agencies working together to introduce self-driving vehicles in New Zealand.

“[The] event in Tauranga is important for a number of reasons … beyond showcasing how self-driving works, it demonstrates that there is the necessary level of cooperation among car makers, government agencies, and industry bodies in New Zealand to allow the widespread adoption of innovative new technologies to customers,” he says.

Järlebratt says large-scale autonomous-driving trials are planned for England, China, and Sweden next year.

Let’s just hope that Skynet doesn’t get a wind of what’s happening — some of the drivers on our roads are bad enough as it is without an apocalyptic-driven program taking control of our cars. 

Bronze treasure unearthed

20 August, 2026

The car was put away in favour of something more practical, and when his father was unable to drive any more, Matt’s friend asked him to come and take a look at his dad’s old Holden. It turned out this was one of those phone calls that leads to that feeling of pure joy in the classic car world — the ‘barn find’ that turns out to be even better than expected. The HT Monaro had been put to bed some years before and had not seen the light of day since. Layers of dust and boxes of junk littered her undercarriage and bodywork and access points all around.

NZ Classic Car magazine, September/October 2026 issue 407, on sale now

16 August, 2026

We love bugs!
A bit of TLC that became a major restoration
The 1302S, or ‘Super Beetle’ as it became known, was built for two years before it, too, was replaced by a further-enhanced Beetle, the 1303, continuing an amazing 65-year lineage for one of the World’s best-known shapes.
The world’s best-selling single-model vehicle, the VW Beetle, possibly established another record for the amount of controversy it has created since the inception of the Type 1.
In a meeting with Hitler in June 1934, Ferdinand Porsche was contracted to build a ‘People’s Car’ that could accommodate two adults and three children, was air-cooled and simple to maintain, and could cruise economically at moderate speed along Germany’s proposed new Autobahns.
Our feature car, a 1972 1302S ‘Super Beetle’, was found by Dave and Michelle Dickie in Mosgiel a few years back. It was a runner, but like most VWs of this age, it needed a little TLC. They were looking for a daily driver for Michelle when they first came upon the VW being sold locally on behalf of its owner.
“The owner offered it to his grandchildren, and they didn’t want it, so he got the guy out at Mosgiel in the Mobil petrol station to sell it for him, and he put it on Trade Me for them. We never met the owner, and we were always dealing with the guy at the petrol station. We put a bid on it, and we were the only people that bid on it.”
Their bid was eventually successful, eight years ago. Not knowing much of the history, in situations like that, it’s always a risk buying a car, but they were in for a bit of a surprise.