French automotive conglomerate Renault Group recently announced its plans to launch a Level 4 autonomous commuter vehicle in partnership with autonomous driving tech developer WeRide.
Renault to trial Level 4 autonomous public transport in Paris
According to the press release, Renault Group aims to separate its autonomous vehicle strategy for the coming years between individual vehicles and public transportation.
For public transportation, Renault Group is currently developing an “electric, robotised, and pre-equipped miniBus platform” to support various automation solutions from specialist partners.
The conglomerate and WeRide have already been testing their autonomous shuttle concepts for years, seeking to fulfill the demands of local authorities in European “low emission” zones.
In a significant development, the prototypes are already on track to take customers around Paris from the end of May 2024. The innovative transport service will take passengers from the Bois-de-Boulogne to the Roland-Garros stadium and back during the upcoming tennis tournament, which will be held on May 20.
“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, Renault Group CTO
Potential challenge
Surprisingly, Renault highlights the cost advantages of replacing operators with its innovative Level 4 autonomous commuter vehicle.
It even depicted those savings as a crucial advantage in purchasing its automated shuttles.
“More flexible, autonomous miniBuses will be able to operate 24/7 in complete safety and will be a zero-emission alternative or an efficient complement to existing solutions (train, tram, bus) in terms of costs and CO2/km.passenger. The additional costs of robotisation and automation could be offset by the absence of on-board operators. A simple remote supervision system will be required to operate a fleet of vehicles.”
Renault Group
Renault’s emphasis on the cost savings from cutting operators’ jobs is very brave, considering how the French tend to rally on the streets whenever threats emerge against their labor benefits.
Nonetheless, a fleet of these WeRide automated e-minibuses will join the public transportation network Chateauroux Metropole in France by 2026.
