Groupe Renault, Waymo and the Paris Region to set up an Autonomous Mobility Service

France is reiterating its commitment 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 programme of experimentations supported par the government, EVRA, is in progress.

Groupe Renault is participating 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.

“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 ($110 million) to develop the infrastructure on which autonomous vehicles will operate. I hope that we will be able to bring this project to a successful conclusion for the Paris Olympic Games,” said Valérie Pécresse, President of the Paris Region and President of Île-de-France Mobilités.

“Tomorrow's mobility will be electric, connected, autonomous and shared. 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,” said Hadi Zablit, SVP, Alliance Business Development.

“France is a recognised 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,” said Adam Frost, Chief Automotive Programmes and Partnerships Officer, Waymo.