France is committed to the development of autonomous vehicles with a strong national strategy in which stakeholders in the sector, and national and local authorities are involved.
To make France a leading country for the development of the autonomous vehicle, an innovative program of experimentations supported par the government, EVRA[¹], is in progress.
Groupe Renault participates in this program via a consortium of the PFA, the French automotive platform, with experiments of electric and autonomous on-demand vehicles in Rouen in conjunction with the Rouen Normandy Metropolitan Area and the Normandy Region; and on the Paris-Saclay urban campus with the Paris Region (Région Île-de-France) and Île-de-France Mobilités (Public Transport Authority of Paris Region).
In this context and following the signing in June 2019 of an exclusive agreement between Groupe Renault and Nissan with Waymo on autonomous mobility services in France and Japan, the Paris Region and Groupe Renault will explore the implementation of an autonomous mobility service between Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport and La Défense[²].
“This autonomous mobility service between Roissy and La Défense is likely to play a key role for the mobility of Île-de-France inhabitants, tourists and therefore for the international attractiveness of our Region, which is investing €100 million to develop the infrastructure on which autonomous vehicles will operate” says Valérie Pécresse, President of the Paris Region and President of Île-de-France Mobilités. “I hope that we will be able to bring this project to a successful conclusion for the Paris Olympic Games.”
“Tomorrow’s mobility will be electric, connected, autonomous and shared,” says Hadi Zablit, SVP, Alliance Business Development.“Driven by this conviction, we will, with our partner Waymo, work on this major project in coordination with the Paris Region, as well as the stakeholders of the SAM experiment program. And, as a French manufacturer, we are very proud to contribute to the influence and evolution of Paris and the Île-de-France region.”
“France is a recognized global mobility leader, and we look forward to working with the Paris Region and our partner Groupe Renault to explore deploying the Waymo Driver on the critical business route stretching from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport to La Défense in Paris,” says Adam Frost, Chief Automotive Programs and Partnerships Officer, Waymo.
SOURCE: Renault
