With electric vans slowly but surely becoming established in the marketplace as more manufacturers become convinced of the viable business case for them and join the fray – perhaps for fear of being left behind – the next frontier to be conquered is the creation of autonomous LCVs that can offer a workable solution to the challenges posed to operators by the cities of the future.
Mercedes-Benz and Renault have positioned themselves at the cutting edge of EV technology and both brands have now revealed concepts of battery-powered autonomous vans.
As the urban population continues to grow apace – with the United Nations predicting there will be 5.2 billion people living in cities by 2030, equating to 60% of the global population – the challenge is to serve more people with fewer vehicles, producing less congestion and zero emissions.
We were invited to the world premiere of Mercedes’ autonomous concept vehicle ‘Vision Urbanetic’ in Copenhagen in September.
Volker Morhinweg, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, explained the hurdle to be overcome: “The cities of the future will be several times bigger, but above all they will be more densely populated than they are today.
“For our customers, this growth means they will have to deal with a far higher level of transportation needs, of people and, of course, of goods. At the same time we want to achieve greater quality of urban life, which includes less traffic, less noise and zero emissions.”
With urban infrastructure already becoming overloaded, the brand’s answer lies in producing a concept that makes use of interchangeable body modules mounted onto a single ‘skateboard’ platform, which enable it to carry people during the day and to transport goods at night.
“In the city of the future, an autonomous van brings someone to the office in the morning and the same van delivers his groceries in the evening,” said Morhinweg.
He added that Mercedes aims to introduce autonomous vans in three stages: “Starting with restricted zones, such as factory sites or airports; secondly, on fixed routes, such as deliveries or urban public transportation; and finally, on unrestricted routes, such as courier runs, as mobile packing stations or on-demand ride-sharing.”
According to Morhinweg, in the transport of goods a self-driving van could become a logistics hub, while robots or drones complete the delivery to the customer’s door.
Only time will tell whether this vision becomes a reality or remains pie in the sky.
Renault’s autonomous concept is similar to that of Mercedes in that it imagines a base upon which versatile ‘Robo Pods’ can be placed to fulfil a wide range of functions.
Having already unveiled its Ez Go passenger-carrying concept it has now added the Ez Pro goods- and service-carrying version.
Renault plans to establish “user-friendly digital channels” to allow customers to manage their parcel deliveries via, for example, their smartphones.
Renault’s Ez Pro concept, developed with parcel delivery firm DPD
Where Renault’s autonomous plan differs to the one envisioned by the German brand is that it retains a human touch in the shape of a ‘concierge’ who would travel in the lead pod of a convoy of, for example, five vehicles, all of which have the ability to drive independently and autonomously to deliver orders or serve as workplaces, such as retail outlets, in separate locations.
Renault’s chief designer Laurens Van den Acker said: “We need to learn how many pods we need. We think a human presence will smooth out the operation.”
Although Renault envisages the concierge as having a joystick controller to manoeuvre the pods if required, they would not drive the convoy but would be able to manage and optimise routes digitally and deliver goods personally if that is what the customer requires – for example, in carrying items to a disabled person in a top-floor flat or in delivering high-value products.
For the rest of the time, without driving duties, the concierge would be able to work in what would effectively be a mobile office.
Van den Acker claimed the pods could be “tailor-made for customers’ needs” and could, for example, be used for logistics, deliveries, as food or coffee shops or as pop-up stores.
Pods delivering retail goods would contain lockers customers could open with a code on their smartphone, he said.
Primarily he believes the Ez Pro represents “ a model for last-mile deliveries in the years to come”.
He sees the van operating around the clock and stressed: “It must be able to deliver 24 hours to get out of the nine-to-five traffic crunch.”
He points out other advantages, such as not having to pay drivers to operate the pods – other than the concierge in the lead vehicle – and says an autonomous vehicle can either find a parking space while the concierge makes a delivery or just keep moving without needing to park.
As a last-mile delivery service Renault says the loaded pods would be taken to hubs by truck, train, or ship and then placed onto the Ez Pro platform.
Renault has designed the Ez Pro with reflective sides to mirror and blend in with the surrounding environment and with all the touch points – to control doors or to fit or remove the pod from its base – in green. The interior is furnished in wood to induce a feeling of natural warmth, according to Renault. The overall idea is that the pods should not be harsh or intrusive.
Having said that, people’s safety is paramount and warning lights are fitted to the exterior to alert pedestrians to a pod’s movements, such as when it is set to move away.
In developing Ez Pro Renault partnered with the parcel delivery group DPD to determine and find a way of meeting future urban customer demand.
Like Mercedes, Renault plans to initiate in-house rental schemes to encourage sharing of its autonomous vans.
While these concepts may currently look like they belong in a science fiction film, Louis Morasse, Renault’s LVC design director, pointed out: “[They] are designed with ease of customer use in mind.”
And as LCV director Philipe Devine added: “The human touch is important – it must improve the customer’s life.”
