Autonomous Shuttles For Roland-Garros 2024: Renault Group To Launch An Ambitious Level 4 For Public Transportation

Join daily news updates from CleanTechnica on e-mail. Or follow us on Google News!

• Renault Group has chosen to method the autonomous car technique within the years to return by separating expectations for particular person automobiles from the wants of public transportation:
  • For the person car: help somewhat than autonomy, with ADAS (superior driver help programs) on the prime degree of the marketplace for even larger security and luxury.
  • For public transportation: autonomy is related and essential so as to meet successfully the rising want for low-carbon mobility within the areas.
• Along with the demonstrations and partnerships already underway, Renault Group is now teaming up with WeRide, chief in autonomous driving applied sciences, with a primary demonstration in actual situations from Might 26^th on the Roland-Garros 2024 tennis event.

Boulogne-Billancourt, France — Renault Group has a realistic imaginative and prescient of know-how, based mostly on the precept that innovation solely is smart whether it is shared, economically accessible and genuinely helpful to as many individuals as attainable.

Technological developments are actually making it attainable to supply more and more efficient driver help and delegation features tailored to various kinds of automobiles and use.

For the particular person automobilesRenault Group already affords top-level driving help on most of its fashions, offering consolation and security. Additional automation of some features, with the purpose of attaining full car autonomy, appears unlikely in the intervening time, given present rules, buyer expectations and the price of the complicated know-how concerned.

In relation to public transportationRenault Group intends to be an actual participant in sustainable and autonomous mobility. To this finish, the Group is creating an electrical, robotised, and pre-equipped miniBus platform that can host varied automation options from specialist companions.

Experimentations have been underway for a number of years, and others are about to be introduced, specifically with WeRide, the world professional in autonomous automobiles, with a primary demonstration of public transport in actual situations in a number of days’ time through the Roland-Garros 2024 tennis event.

Renault Group’s autonomous car technique

There’s a world consensus round 6 ranges on “automated and autonomous driving”, starting from degree L0 with none driving help, to degree L5, the last word degree through which the car could be totally autonomous, in all conditions and with none on-board operator.

Within the case of particular person automobiles, Renault Group is concentrating its efforts on the L2 and even L2+ degree, with a number of driving assistances which can be on the prime degree of the market and make its automobiles protected and nice to drive with confidence, corresponding to contextual cruise management or lane protecting help, or quickly the automated overtaking perform. Though assisted, the driving force stays liable for driving.

There’s a vital technological complexity hole between degree L2 automation and degree L3 autonomy, as a result of the car should be capable of function safely in complicated environments with restricted driver supervision. At this stage, the induced value to be borne by prospects, in relation to the driving advantages, would make demand inadequate and even anecdotal.

On the similar time, the Group is ensuring that the structure of its automobiles can evolve in the direction of the autonomous automotive if expectations, rules, or the price of applied sciences make this breakthrough possible.

Alternatively, in relation to public transportation, Renault Group sees the relevance of providing autonomous automobiles, with an annual want estimated at a number of thousand miniBuses over the following few years.

The autonomous miniBus, a related and essential resolution for public transport

In Europe, greater than 400 main cities will regularly turn into low emission zones, whereas nonetheless having to make sure the mobility of their populations.

Satisfied of the advantages of autonomous public transportation, Renault Group has been conducting trials for a number of years to outline the most effective response to the wants of native authorities, such because the “Mach 2 project” introduced in 2023, which from 2026 will see a fleet of automated electrical minibuses built-in into the general public transportation community of Chateauroux Metropole (France).

In the end, these trials will lead Renault Group to supply a robotised electrical miniBus platform based mostly on the New Renault Grasp, capable of combine automation options from specialist companions corresponding to EasyMile, Milla and WeRide.

Extra versatile, autonomous miniBuses will be capable of function 24/7 in full security and will probably be a zero-emission different or an environment friendly complement to present options (practice, tram, bus) by way of prices and CO2/km.passenger. The extra prices of robotisation and automation could possibly be offset by the absence of on-board operators. A easy distant supervision system will probably be required to function a fleet of automobiles.

WeRide, international specialist in autonomous automobiles

As we speak, Renault Group is initiating a brand new collaboration with WeRide, a world-renowned professional in autonomous driving, for the large-scale industrial deployment of automobiles with an L4 degree of autonomy, i.e. able to managing driving conditions on their very own, inside an operational outlined area, with distant supervision, however with out an on-board operator.

When, in 2018, Alliance Ventures⁽¹⁾ invested within the fledgling firm WeRide, which was then blowing out its first candle, it anticipated the sturdy future want for collective autonomous mobility.

Since then, WeRide has turn into a world benchmark for autonomous automobiles, with greater than 700 autonomous automobiles in service (together with 300 miniBuses) which have travelled greater than 28 million km in Asia, the Center East, and North America… and shortly in Europe with Renault Group.

“Renault Group is moving forward to implement its autonomous vehicle strategy. As a result, thanks to our experiments and our partners, the best in their fields, we will be in a position, well before the end of this decade, to propose a highly relevant range of autonomous, low-carbon miniBuses to meet the growing needs of the regions.” —Gilles Le Borgne, CTO Renault Group

(1) Alliance Ventures is a strategic fund managed by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, positioned to put money into early-stage start-ups whose software program, services or products are primarily centered on the way forward for the automotive business.

Press launch Renault Group