One of the keys to the rental car business by the minute is that they are idle for the minimum time, the same as airplanes. Zity by Mobilize will implement in their cars what is necessary so that they can be moved by drivers who will not be behind the wheel.
There is a middle ground between the autonomous car and one normally driven, that the driver is not physically in the vehicle, but apparently it will move “alone.” The image of a car that goes through Madrid without anyone at the wheel, moving as if it were nothing in urban traffic, we will soon see it.
Zity by Mobilize, the joint initiative of Ferrovial and Renault to rent cars by the minute (or days) in Madrid and Paris, has found a way to reduce costs: that vehicles can move from one point to another for tuning and sanitization without so many transfers of their employees. A saving of time and money.
How can such a thing be achieved? Convert cars to be usable remote form. In order for a car to be driven remotely, it basically requires integrating the basic controls, having a good visualization of the environment through cameras and sensors, and a reliable, fast and stable 5G Internet connection.
The idea of cars that are moved from one point to another without the drivers going inside is not exactly new
Zity has reached an agreement with the Madrid City Council and the General Directorate of Traffic for a Pilot experience. In our country it is quite an anomaly for a vehicle to move on a public road without anyone driving it in person, but ultimately with someone who is controlling it.
The mobility company wants to increase the profitability of its park, reducing those losses of time that are attributable to the displacements that are inherent to activities such as yours. Cars, as they are electric, require from time to time a recharge or that their interiors be sanitized – something of the pandemic.
These deadlines are substantially shortened if vehicles can travel to their bases with remote drivers. As we discussed in the case of Vay, a German company with a similar purpose, the profession of remote driver or teleconductor is going to begin to ring in the range of new professions.
Driving position of a Vay operator
Zity will have an operations and control center, from where its drivers will have a reproduction of a driving position, the basic controls and a panoramic view of what the cameras of the cars collect. In addition, the obstacle sensors will be able to alert the operator before the approach of a danger.
The situation may be similar to what we saw from a Vay operator. For the driver of course it supposes a considerable increase in your safety, since it is not exposed to the vicissitudes of real traffic, only the vehicle, and that is what the insurance is for. In addition, it is much easier to keep a time control that respects your days, everything is more predictable. On the other hand, the probability of COVID-19 infections is reduced.
Right now Zity has a joint fleet of 1,300 cars, Renault ZOE and Dacia Spring, serving the Spanish and French capitals. The kits will be gradually installed, consisting of video cameras, computer for information processing, sensors and devices that “trick” the car and manipulate its accelerator, brake, gear, turn signals, etc. The vehicle “won’t know the difference.”
Dacia spring
This pilot experience can lay the foundations for other companies to be encouraged to do the same, or on the contrary, that the added cost of this technology does not end up offsetting the benefits in man-hours that are saved in trips between the cars and the base. , and vice versa.
But without any doubt this technology will be a patch for what will obviously come later, that through autonomous driving these cars can not only go to recharge or be sanitized -if it is still necessary-, they can also go to pick up their customers in situ, such as taxis / VTC, or that they go alone to park or for another client.
The closest to that vision is that of the German company Vay, whose cars will be driven remotely to the customer who needs a rental car for a while. At the end of the service, a teleconductor takes care of it and there is no need to look for parking. Welcome to the future.