Source: Gasgoo
On May 15, Renault Group officially released its autonomous driving strategy, which will achieve the best application of autonomous driving technology based on the differentiated needs of personal vehicles and public transport.
For personal vehicles, Group Renault is focusing on driver assistance systems at the L2 and L2+ levels, with features such as situational cruise control, lane-keeping assistance and the forthcoming automated overtaking technology.
Renault believes that these systems are at the leading level in the market and can effectively improve the safety and comfort of driving. But when using these systems, the driver is still responsible for driving the vehicle.
In the field of public transport, Renault expects demand for self-driving mini-buses to reach thousands in the coming years. In the future, Renault will launch a robotized electric minibus platform based on the new Renault Master, which will be able to integrate automation solutions from professional partners such as EasyMile, Milla and Wynyuan.
Renault will also collaborate with Wenyuan, a leading company in the field of autonomous driving technology, and plans to demonstrate the results of this cooperation for the first time at the French Open tennis tournament on May 26, 2024.
Image source: Renault
Gilles Le Borgne, chief technology officer at Renault, said the company would not target a so-called SAE Level 3 autonomous passenger car, but would instead focus its development on a Level 4 autonomous minibus operating on designated routes.
“Level 2+ autonomous driving has already met 90 percent of customer expectations,” Le Borgne said. “We will continue to provide safe and economical Level 2+ solutions for passenger cars, but we also want to develop Level 4 solutions to meet the needs of public transport,” he said.
He pointed out that L3 is a key dividing line, because the automaker and the driver need to share the blame in the accident.
“We want to stay at L2+ because L3 requires shared responsibility and reliability has to be very high.” ‘he said. “We are a popular brand and we don’t want to invest in level 3 because the cost is too high for our customers to bear.”
