Renault has provided some detail on its strategy, as described publicly by CEO Carlos Ghosn, to have autonomous vehicles on the market by 2020.
The plan is to have a degree of autonomous control available on a car based on the ZOE and dubbed ‘NEXT TWO’.
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Renault said that NEXT TWO will allow certain driving functions to be delegated, without risk, “in clearly defined situations”.
The ‘clearly defined situations’ for autonomous control on NEXT TWO are:
- The delegation of driving functions in congested traffic up to 18 mph on main roads (widely known as ‘traffic jam assist’).
- An ‘Automated Valet Parking’ function which permits the vehicle to park itself completely autonomously in car parks equipped to cater for automated vehicles. This includes both finding a parking place and the necessary manoeuvring.
“Thanks to the NEXT TWO autonomous prototype, Renault’s aim is to take up position right now in this field of advanced technology, which we believe will reach the marketplace by around 2020,” said Carlos Ghosn.
“With NEXT TWO, we wanted to combine the worlds of delegated driving and connectivity. Not only will autonomous driving enhance safety, but it will also free up time for drivers. Being connected will enable them to make the most of this extra time by providing them with access to new in-car services such as video-conferences, on-line shopping, travel information and more.”
Renault sees the car being packed with “simple but ingenious sensor technologies”.
On board NEXT TWO, Renault says, people can “ensure that this time [not driving] is either productive or pleasurable by tapping into the benefits of a hyperconnected mobile lifestyle. People on-board will find everything they would expect to find at home or in the office – in complete safety, while the vehicle takes care of the journey by itself.”
However, Renault also acknowledged that “developing a car that is capable of driving itself completely safely in any circumstance will take time”.
Renault’s plans need to be seen in the context of a French government initiative. At the launch of its “New Face of Industry in France” programme, the French government named Carlos Ghosn as the leader of the ‘Autonomous Vehicles’ project. Renault said a roadmap will be agreed in February 2014 and Renault will mobilise the resources of the French automotive industry for this programme.
In the context of the Alliance, Renault and Nissan are working together to ensure synergies in the development of autonomous and connected vehicles. To help bring these technologies into the mainstream, a high number of partners are involved, Renault said.
In framing its New Face of Industry in France initiative, the French government included autonomous vehicles among its 34 plans for industry sectors. Responsibility for the plan’s implementation has been given to Carlos Ghosn. The membership of the project team (key figures in the automotive world and also those in the digital sector), as well as a roadmap for the project will be finalised by the end of the first quarter of 2014.
One of the first steps will be to determine which sections of the relevant legislation will have to be amended in order to allow vehicles to travel under autonomous control on public roads. International regulations, along with the national highway codes derived from these regulations, were drawn up decades ago and never anticipated the possibility of autonomous vehicles. French government officials have formed an inter-ministerial team tasked with discussing this key issue with industry.
