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nuTonomy can test autonomous vehicles city-wide in Boston
Autonomous cars will now be allowed on all public Boston roads. The city has played host to nuTonomy for some time now, allowing the company to test its self-driving Renault Zoes at the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park in January of last year, later expanding its testing zone to the Seaport District. And for the past few months, nuTonomy and Lyft have teamed up on a pilot program, transporting passengers in the autonomous vehicles within the Seaport area. Now, Boston will allow nuTonomy to test its vehicles city-wide.
Touring France’s EV charging network in the Renault Zoe
The Renault Zoe doesn't grab EV headlines like the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt and Tesla's Model 3, because it's not sold in the US. But with a 41kWh battery that can propel it 300 km, a €23,700 ($29,000) starting price and zippy performance, it's worth learning about the French-made car. I took it on a tour in and around Paris to check out not only the EV itself but France's entire charging network. Cars like the Zoe and the infrastructure are going to be crucial, because the city of Paris plans to ban gas-burning cars by 2030, with the rest of the country following suit by 2040.
Renault's self-driving car can avoid obstacles like pro drivers
The Renault Group announced today that its autonomous vehicle control system can avoid obstacles just as well as professional test drivers. The company said that in designing the system, it was actually inspired by these drivers' abilities and used them as a sort of benchmark as to what level its technology should be performing.
Renault-Nissan developing a fleet of self-driving EVs
French people love to drive, but with private radar companies set to give out way more speeding tickets, they may be willing to let machines take the wheel. Luckily, the Renault-Nissan Alliance has teamed with a company called Transdev to develop a fleet of self-driving vehicles "for future public and on-demand transportation," it said in a press release. The project will kick off with autonomous field testing of Europe's most popular EV, the 250-mile-range Renault Zoe.
Renault Zoe EV motors nearly 1,000 miles in 24 hours, charges nine times
Even amongst siblings, Renault's shown it's game for a little competition. With a 994 mile trip completed earlier this month on a test circuit, the company's Zoe EV broke a record for the longest distance an electric car has covered in a 24 hour period, according to France Mobilite Electrique (translation via TreeHugger). Think the French automaker's vehicle pulled off the feat on a single charge? Try nine half-hour rapid-charge juice-ups that each provide a roughly 130 mile range in a controlled test-circuit environment. The EV is rolling out in Europe this fall for those who don't mind a little stop-and-go.
Renault's Zoe EV to give Nissan Leaf competition at lower price -- Nissan-Renault alliance forges on
Ever since they struck an alliance back in 1999, Renault and Nissan have been super tight, sharing both a CEO and a goal to make EVs more accessible, but with Renault's Zoe gearing up to hit the market in 2012, the French automaker has proven it's not pulling any punches when it comes to competing with its Japanese partner. In fact, reports give Renault's EV a starting price of roughly €15,000, which compared to the Leaf's €27,000 price tag, is a pretty hefty difference. The catch -- of course, there's a catch -- is Zoe owners will have to lease their batteries for about €100 a month. With the added battery expense, however, it would still take nearly 10 years for the Zoe to meet the Leaf's price. We hope this doesn't put a damper on this 12-year love affair, but honestly, we'll take an affordable EV any way we can get it.
