A
UTONOMOUS OR SELF-DRIVING
cars look like the way forward and though
they seem like two separate technologies,
they are making progress side by side with
their futures entwined. Almost all major
manufacturers worldwide are developing cars which will
be able to drive themselves. In Europe, Groupe Renault
is at the forefront of these technologies with some of
its technology partners Transdev Group, IRT SystemX,
VEDECOM and the University of Paris-Saclay. They are
working on developing autonomous cars at the Paris-
Saclay Autonomous Lab campus. We were invited to get
a first hand experience of their under-development self-
driving Renault Zoe.
It started with us understanding the concept that
has been developed for the Zoe cabs. While the Zoe is a
familiar car, Renault operates them as an on-demand car
service with a bunch of autonomous prototypes on the
Paris-Saclay campus. Designed to provide a taxi service
for various locations across the campus, it also aims to
help develop the driverless cars being used. The service is
designed to provide a large number of pick-up and drop-
off points which do not interfere with other traffic and are
located near the most frequented areas of the campus.
The autonomous Zoe isn’t very different from the
regular EV. The version we got to drive in features a
distinct blue paint job and has blue tinted headlamps. The
major difference is in the number of cameras, sensors for
the GPS, Radars and LiDARs mounted at different places of
the car. Some of the prototypes that are part of the test have
the front passenger turned around to face the rear seats, so
it gives you the feel of being in a lounge, liberating more
leg room. These prototypes also feature a single large door
that opens vertically. On the inside, the autonomous Zoe
features a regular dashboard, steering wheel and controls
that are almost identical to the ones in the regular model.SOME CARS
HAVE THE
FRONT
PASSENGER
TURNED
AROUND TO
FACE THE
REAR SEATS
Right: Newer Zoe
Cabs get cool scissor
doors for easy cabin
access. Check out
the lounge seating.
Bottom: Autonomous
Zoe will have an app-
based on-demand
service