Jérôme Perrin (Mov'eo Tec) : a flying start for VeDeCom

CESA 2012 interview

General Manager of Mov'eo Tec foundation and member of the programme committee of CESA 2012, Jérôme Perrin discusses the creation of VeDeCom institute in France.

"In late july, the french governement announced the creation at the end of the year of a R&D center dedicated to carbon free vehicles. It was actually the VeDeCom institute, that has been chosen amongst seven projects. This center is still on the paper. However, we already fill all the conditions for a flying start in early september.
VeDeCom relies on the Mov'eo Tec foundation and has strong partners, such as Mov'eo automotive cluster and Yvelines district in west part of Paris.
The members from VedeCom are from PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Valeo, STMicroelectronics, Continental, utilities such as EDF, or even aeronautics companies such as Safran. We also have research institutes, like IFSTTAR, INRIA and CEA.
This intitute will cover clean energies, new mobilities (infrastructure and services) and automated driving.
The steering committee is ready and has already chosen the 13 projects for the next three years. There will be a first visible project of VeDeCom in late 2013".

CESA 2012 interview : Marc Duval-Destin (PSA), part four

Marc Duval-Destin is Research and Advanced Engineering VP at PSA Peugeot Citroën. For CESA blog, as member of the Executive committee, he gives his vision of this international event.

"CESA is a true forum. In France, we are not very familiar with open discussions on technology. There is a tradition of secret. There is a dialogue between PSA, Renault and Valeo, but it was not the case with our colleagues from other OEMS.
This event is the opportunity to discuss with top experts the latest trends and main challenges. We can have direct conversations on hot topics.
From my point of view, CESA should be the mirror of what we are doing in France with VeDeCom institute in Paris area. This facility is dedicated to research on carbon free vehicles of the future, connectivity, automated driving and new mobility services".

CESA 2012 interview : Marc Duval-Destin (PSA), part two

Marc Duval-Destin is Research and Advanced Engineering VP at PSA Peugeot Citroën. For CESA blog, he talks about automated driving.

"In a few months, our Peugeot 208 will be offering automated park assist. This feature is not that new on the market place. Many other OEMS have implemented that technology that lets the car park by itself, calculating if there is room enough and turning automatically the steering wheel. But, it will be the fist time ever that this equipement will be available on a mass production vehicle.
With EuroNCAP decision, to promote AEB (Automated Emergency Braking systems), the OEMS will integrate more and more sensors to enhance safety. Thanks to cost reduction, radars, cameras or lidar will spread on model series between 2015 and 2020. The technology already enables the car to evaluate the driver concentration with accurate sensors and algorithms.
We are also working on comfort features. A function such as traffic jam assist should give peace of mind to the driver. In slow traffic, he would then have time to make something else and let the car manage the accelerator and the brake, thanks to ACC.
In France, we have a common position with Renault. We would like to avoid expensive technologies and to give the benefit of accident free technologies for a majority of drivers, and not only for high end models. Our vision is to develop car to car communication and to promote a dialogue between the vehicle and the infrastructure. That's why we have created VeDeCom institute in Paris area. Public authorities, pedestrians and drivers should be able to interact for a better mobility".

Next, Marc Duval-Destin will be discussing next gen powertrains.

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 : Guillaume Devauchelle (Valeo) part 1

For CESA 2012, Guillaume Devauchelle, R&D director at Valeo, speaks about the new Vedecom Institute in Paris area.

"In a context of unprecedented global change in both the demand for and use of personal transportation, the Vedecom Institute aims to increase the energy efficiency of personal transport and to decrease the presence of harmful emissions in priority urban and suburban areas, by inventing new mobilities at the same time as new vehicles.

No industrial company, no services operator, however powerful, will be able to achieve this on his own. It requires the automobile manufacturers and suppliers, the higher education and research establishments, the territorial collectivities, the mobility operators, the infrastructure engineering companies and managers, the city planners, the economists, the sociologists to work together in inventing and deploying these new mobility systems. VeDeCoM creates such a strategic alliance, for the first time in the world.


The entire car industry is reaching out to stakeholders in mobility systems, information services, and energy sectors. Vedecom will bring together a unique set of global specialists with multi-disciplinary skills, at the same time and in the same place, providing them with the environment and structure so needed by a fledgling industrial sector with a bright future.

It is a threefold programme, electrification of vehicules, connectivity and driving delegation, architecture and services which aims at addressing the whole system issues, in a multidisciplinary manner: design of new vehicles, design of new ways of drives, from assisted driving to automatic driving, design of new technology blocks, from mechatronics power traction, security controls and telecom assisted connectivity, offering best potential for massive new system introduction, a mandatory objective for having the required impact on energy consumption. Demonstrations, on annual basis, also show progress and test user acceptance. The Vedecom Institute is a brand new organization that is set to become a benchmark in the blossoming sustainable personal mobility sector, in order to get an energy reduction by at least a factor of 2 over the next 10 years.

Vedecom displays a technological reference to support the design and implementation of the “Grand Paris”. Being located in the Satory region at the north of the “Plateau de Saclay”, VeDeCoM is already asked to participate to the definition of new “eco-quartiers” around the new Grand Paris metro stations in this area. The new systems will serve as demonstrators and later on as benchmarks for the whole public transportation network, in Paris and worldwide, providing excellent grounds for companies to export their experience, and for researchers to attract students and high level personalities in France".

To be continued with next Valeo and the connected car...

Birth of VeDeCoM in France

Selected by french state R & D program investment for the future, and backed by Paris area based Mov'eo automotive cluster, VeDeCoM Institute is the largest institute in France working on carbon free cars and new mobility trends. The name stands for connected and carbon free vehicle and its mobility.
Located in Versailles-Satory, in the south of Paris (and part of Saclay area, french equivalent of Silicon Valley), VeDeCoM gathers an incredible dream team. The 44 members are OEMs (Renault, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Venturi), OEM suppliers (Continental Automotive, STMicroelectrics, Valeo..), start ups (Induct, Intempora), energy suppliers (EDF), research institutes (CEA, INRIA, IFSTTAR) and local public authorities.
In 3 years, 280 people will begin to work with a 300 M € budget.
Main R&D programs are :
- infrastructure and services for mobility and shared energy
- full driving assistance and connectivity
- electrification of vehicles

Link (in french) : http://www.fondation-moveotec.com/en/la-recherche-et-linstitut-vedecom.html