Autonomous Electric Shuttles at the ArianeGroup Facility

Two shuttles operate autonomously in an environment as complex as the streets of a city center at the ArianeGroup site, an aerospace and space construction company.

Two electric shuttles are now functioning autonomously, without an onboard operator. These two shuttles have been operational at ArianeGroup since May 2021. They were developed by EasyMile and are operated by Transdev. These shuttles are part of a research program called Navetty. For the Yvelines Department, which invested 2.5 million euros, the goal is to “promote industrial R&D in the territory.” In the long term, they aim to deploy the shuttles on open routes accessible to public traffic.

Tests on the ArianeGroup site

The shuttles can accommodate up to 10 passengers. Currently, they operate on the ArianeGroup site, where they travel loops covering up to 6.6 km per day. Since their launch, they have completed over 50 daily rotations and traveled more than 23,000 kilometers safely. They are fully integrated into an environment with other vehicles and pedestrians. The route includes roundabouts, intersections, a tunnel, and 18 stops spread across the entire site.

The Ariane Group aims higher and plans to introduce a third shuttle in January. This will enable testing the feasibility of supervising a fleet of three autonomous shuttles with a single supervisor, ensuring safety and service performance. This is a step toward the deployment of a permanent commercial autonomous shuttle service. “Our technology is ready for deployment on sites of this scale, and other sites will soon follow ArianeGroup’s example,” adds Benoît Perrin, CEO of EasyMile.

Connecting RER stations together

The Navetty project will expand to have a more urban focus. The Navetty program will continue to advance with the launch, during 2023, of a route on open roads between the Mureaux station and the ArianeGroup site. “This autonomous shuttle service will eventually enable optimal connections to the future RER EOLE stations. The Department also continues to support strengthening ties between the aerospace, technological, and automotive industries, which are very active in the region,” explains Maxime Rabasté, Director of Environment and Development at the Yvelines Department.

Now, the Navetty service will further develop for ArianeGroup employees. Starting in 2023, a mobile app will allow employees to “order a shuttle directly from their current location thanks to an integrated geolocation system,” the announcement states.