CESA 2012 interview : Rémi Bastien (Renault), third part

Rémi Bastien is Vice President for Research, Advanced Studies and Materials at Renault. For this third and last part of the interview, he discusses about CESA congress and the french know how.

"As a shareholder of SIA*, I was one of the promoters of the CESA congress. The first edition in 2010 was rather successful and we have decided to continue.
A scientific congress is much more a tradition in Germany, where engineers like to share information, than in France. However, we have good scientists too and it's an opportunity to present research labs, universities and to put the emphasis on french know how in the whole automotive industry.
We have for example the VeDeCom institute, housed by the Mov'eo cluster and which is very unique in Europe. It's the only place you can find OEMS, suppliers, labs, famous research firms (CEA, IFP, IFSTTAR), and outside automotive companies such as Veolia or EDF, working all together on carbon free vehicles and new mobiliy trends.
CESA is an international congress. We aim to become a major event in Europe, in the field of electronics, hybrid and electric vehicles and of communication dedicated to mobility. Organised every two years, on even years, our congress is in alternance with Baden Baden".

*French Society of Automotive Engineers

CESA 2012 interview : Rémi Bastien (Renault), second part

This is the second part of the interview of Rémi Bastien, Vice President for Research, Advanced Studies and Materials at Renault. The internal code name for this organisation is DREAM. So, let's dream of the future with our top expert.

"With this research organisation, we try to make our managers dream, and then our customers. More seriously, we drive half of the innovation at Renault. We are working on early stage on breakthrough innovations, whether it's on powertrain, or for the connected car.
To give an example, we have created the embedded charger on Zoe EV car, wich is called Cameleon and allows to charge more quickly. This device is compliant with power from 22 to 43 kW.
One of our challenges at the moment is to develop more affordable batteries, always for EVs. We expect to be ready in 2017, with next generation batteries which would allow the same range, from 150 to 200 km, but with a much lower price.
Another interesting topic is the driving assistance. Today, a car can park by itself. At low speed, the driver could handover to the car and let it manage acceleration, braking and changing lanes. All the components are ready and we have in France a remarkable  facility with VeDeCom Institute near Paris for further testings and developments. I think it should come earlier than people usually expect.
When innovation is mature enough, it's then transferred to production plans".

To be continued with statements on CESA congress.

CESA 2012 interview : Rémi Bastien (Renault), first part

Rémi Bastien is Vice President for Research, Advanced Studies and Materials at Renault. As the new chairman of EUCAR, the Brussels based organisation, he discusses first about research in Europe.

"EUCAR stands for European Council for Automotive R&D. With fourteen members, wich are automotive manufacturers from the ACEA*, the organisation identifies research priorities and interacts whith the European Commission, in order to improve the competitiveness of the industry.
Our key challenge at the moment is Horizon 2020, the Framework Programme for Research & Innovation. Our proposal is to triple the amount of fundings, with a 5 billion Euros budget for the next seven years to face the challenges. Research efforts have to be done on cars themselves, but also in the fields of energy and communication. This idea has been well received by the European Commission.
Europe has to move fast and to take decisions quickly. In other parts of the world, such as China or South Korea, it takes within 6 months to raise fundings and to issue a call for tenders. Europe timeline is rather 6 to 18 months.
We have to decide this year and to move forward then. If we are waiting too much, Europe may lose its technical advance, especially in the field of the connected car with car to car communications".

To be continued with a presentation of the DREAM (research organisation at Renault) and statements on CESA congress.

*European Automobile Manufacturers' Association