Renault EZ-GO Concept Car
New mobility is to us what the Model T was to them in 1908. And while the Model T took four or so decades to fully supplant the horse, new mobility will be with us much sooner. South Africa’s small population and few large cities will probably delay the demise of your car parked in your driveway for now. But not forever.
This is the third in our series on Renault’s Drive the Future campaign. The first two episodes dealt with electric vehicles and the circular economy – important topics in the current environmental conversation. New mobility lives in the same neighbourhood, but looks to the future.
To wrap your head around new mobility, imagine you are living in a mega city in India or China or any rapidly developing country. You don’t have a car in the driveway because you live in a huge block of flats. You probably don’t come from a car-owning family anyway. But you have a nice job and you need to get around. Trains or busses or the ubiquitous tuk-tuks don’t always answer. You need to be mobile, but in a new way. You need a new kind of mobility in other words.
Ride-hailing
Let’s start as close to what you know as possible. Ride-hailing is like an Uber or a taxi, so you hail a car with a driver via your phone. The difference is that the car will be an electric ZOE and the driver will be leasing the car through a Renault subsidiary. The cost of the lease will be less than half of a comparable saloon, so the cost of the trip will be lower, but the driver will still earn a decent return. Renault will guarantee the eventual sale of the car, so the drive has that security as well.
Free-floating car sharing
So far so still familiar. Car sharing takes it a step further. It already exists, but this is how it works. Say you are in Hyde Park and you need to go to Sandton City. Ping your phone and it sends you to the carpark in Hyde Park Corner. Your car greets you with a friendly blink of the flickers. You unlock the car with your phone and drive to Sandton City where you leave it in the carpark. Trip done, you get charged via your phone and you get on with your life. Needless to say, if your car-sharing involves Renault, your ride will be electric.
Short term rental
Okay, to rent a car you go to the airport and there you show your id and your . . . no, not anymore. You can rent a car any time of the day or night to use in a specific area, any day of the week, using your cellphone. Sounds like car sharing? There is a twist. Many of the cars belong to company fleets or people who only use them to commute. So if you are Joe Bloggs and use your company car to get to and from work, the company can make money with your car for that eight hours you are not using it. You can also rent and return vehicles from fixed locations and a fixed rate per hour. In another twist in the tale, Ikea stores in France now offer van rentals from their stores to cart your bulky purchases home.
Carpooling
Everybody drives to work and back every day, so carpooling is the answer. But why is everyone not doing it? Renault offers both an in-company carpooling scheme, as well as on-demand carpooling. In this, you look for a ride and get it through someone going your way at the time when you want to go to work. You pay your share of the trip and the driver saves some bucks. Neat, don’t you think.
Autonomous cars
If you have an immaculate Capri Perana in your driveway, one: how much do you want for it?, and two: the following may shock you. Reader discretion is advised.
All the above ways to get your pride and joy out of your driveway will soon – very soon – be available as autonomous cars. Yep, no driver, just you and the computer fighting about who is steering anyway.
Whether this inspires or depresses you, rest assured it is still a few years away. In the meantime, now that you can buy again, perhaps it is time to put a new Renault in your driveway? While you can.
