The car as part of your home

Imagine your car as part of your home, or an extension of it.

That’s not far away with the Renault Symbioz demo car experience, a level four autonomous car that’s electric (two motors) and connected.

The demo is a step up from the concept shown at the 67th IAA Cars Frankfurt motor show in September, where a connected home allowed visitors to experience the way cars may interact with their environment.

When parked inside the home, the Symbioz concept car showed how cars could play an even more important role in our everyday lives.

This connected home will also be displayed during the demo car road tests.

No interior pillars or walls allow a special area for the demo car to pick up occupants inside, pivoting on a turntable to exit.

The dividing line that has long separated the car from the home and the workplace is becoming increasingly blurred, demo car project manager Sandrine Woll says. “Connectivity and constant data sharing between the different parts of the device ecosystem promise to better maintain a continuous link between all aspects of the customer’s life.”

A full suite of connectivity features allows occupants to access their digital environment, media and services just like at home or in the office.

Occupants are identified by their smartphone regardless of where they are sitting. The smartphone interacts with the car’s human-machine interface (HMI) to determine their seat settings, air conditioning settings and music preferences, among other functions – even providing a selection of scents.

The L-shaped dashboard display – the car’s primary HMI – lets users interact remotely with the outside world, like road infrastructures or their home. They can check what happens in their house thanks to a 360-degree camera view on the dashboard screen. They can also adjust the heating settings or access other domestic appliances.

The demo delivers up to 500kW and 660Nm peak torque (360kW and 550Nm continuous), accelerates to 100km/h in six seconds, and can be charged to 80% capacity in less than 30 minutes.

Interior features include a living room-style cabin, horizontal layout, and storage areas on the dashboard, a vast glazed surface and floating glass roof with opacity adjustment.

Three driving modes range from conventional to autonomous.

A goal of the Symbioz demo car is to enable Renault to make the transition from theory to practice in autonomous driving.

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