With the TRI-P4, Toyota begins the transition to practical autonomous driving options.

Toyota announced that its Toyota Research Institute (TRI) will introduce the TRI-P4 self-driving vehicle at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas January 7.

The TRI-P4 will not be the first autonomous vehicle introduced at recent industry expos. Self-driving vehicles have become the expectation rather than the exception.

But, unlike many other autonomous test vehicles, Toyota's robotic car, looks and feels more like a regular car. There's room in the Trunk!

Toyota moved us past the clunky moon-rover mini-van designs, to a vehicle with an actual desirable luxury look. What we're really talking about is the all-new fifth-generation Lexus LS flagship sedan.

A production automobile integrated with cutting edge assisted-driving technology. The technology will be more impressive than the high-end look and feel of the P4.

The P4 benefits from Lexus' new generation of chassis and steering control technology, which provides greater agility and allows for more responsive and smoother maneuvers during automated driving.

P4 adds two additional cameras to improve situational awareness on the sides and two new imaging sensors―one facing forward and one pointed to the rear―specifically designed for autonomous vehicles. The imaging sensors feature new chip technology with high dynamic range. The radar system has been optimized to improve the field of view, especially for close range detection around the vehicle perimeter. The LIDAR sensing system with eight scanning heads carries over from the previous test model, Platform 3.0, and morphs into the new vehicle design.

P4 is a much smarter research vehicle than its predecessor. With greater computing power, its systems can operate more machine learning algorithms in parallel for faster learning. It can process sensor inputs faster and react more quickly to the surrounding environment. All computing system power is now drawn from the vehicle's hybrid battery with the 12v battery now serving only as a backup.

TMNA R&D's Prototype Development Center in York Twp., Mich. will begin fabricating P4 vehicles from stock models this spring.