Another automaker is expanding the
driverless vehicle bandwagon. Renault-Nissan Alliance and Transdev have signed
up to a research contract to develop mobility services system for self-driving
vehicles. In so doing they are to jointly develop driverless vehicle fleet
system for future public and on-demand transportation.
They are also to collaborate to develop
a comprehensive, modular transportation system to enable clients to book rides,
and mobility operators to monitor and operate self-driving car fleets.
“As the mobility
services landscape keeps evolving, we have a great opportunity to offer
innovative, connected mobility solutions for the evolving needs of our
customers, fully aligned with our vision of a zero-emission, zero-fatalities
society,” said Ogi Redzic, Renault-Nissan Alliance (RNA) senior vice president
of Connected Vehicles and Mobility Services.
“Partnering with
Transdev allows us to share our knowledge as leaders in electric vehicles,
autonomous drive and connected-car technologies with one of the largest
multi-modal mobility operators worldwide. Together we will develop an advanced
driverless mobility system that will enhance existing public and on-demand
transport systems,” he claimed.
The research will
initially include field tests in Paris-Saclay with Renault ZOEs, said by RNA to
be “the leading electric vehicle” in Europe, and Transdev’s on-demand dispatch,
supervision and routing platform.
“The future of mobility
will be P.A.C.E. – Personalized, Autonomous, Connected and Electric,” according
to Yann Leriche, chief performance officer at Transdev. “As a worldwide leader
in public transport and on-demand shared services, we are committed to pioneer
in mobility to always offer our clients the best solutions for their journeys.
Our partnership with Renault-Nissan will reinforce our innovation capabilities
and accelerate our time-to-market by combining our strengths with those of a
global car manufacturer that shares the same willingness to enhance daily
mobility to the benefit of clients.”
The Renault-Nissan
Alliance claims it has been forming partnerships to accelerate the development
of advanced connected-car technologies and mobility services. These include a
partnership with Microsoft to develop a single global platform that will
improve the customer experience by making driving more intuitive, intelligent
and fun; and a partnership with Japanese internet company DeNA to begin tests
in Japan to develop driverless vehicles for commercial services.
Transdev says it is a
pioneer in autonomous vehicle (AV) services. The company is engaged in a series
of pilot AV deployments in multiple countries and is currently operating the
world’s first commercial driverless service on EDF’s campus in Civaux, France.
Transdev is accelerating the development of its AV operating system working
with leading partners including Vedecom and SystemX.
Transdev
is a 70 per cent owned subsidiary of Caisse
des Dépôts in which Veolia has a shareholding of 30per cent. Transdev is a
consultant for public transport authorities and supports them in everything
from the pre-project phase to project management assistance to daily operation
of public transport networks. With 83,000 employees in 19 countries, the group
operates 43,000 vehicles and 22 tramway networks. In 2015, Transdev had a
turnover of €6.6 billion. See
also transdev.com
For the
record, RNA is a strategic partnership between Groupe Renault of France
and Japan-based Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors. The automakers combined
sold 9.96 million vehicles in nearly 200 countries in 2016 – more than one in
nine vehicles worldwide. The Alliance has strategic collaborations with other
automakers, including Germany’s Daimler and China’s Dongfeng. It also owns a
majority stake in the joint venture that controls Russia’s leading automaker,
AVTOVAZ.
Despite recent allegations with reference to emissions from Renault
passenger car diesel engines, the Alliance claims it is the industry leader in “zero-emission
vehicles” and is developing “the latest advanced technologies”, with plans to offer
autonomous drive and connectivity features and services on a range of
affordable vehicles.
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