FRANCE — With UN.patent, Renault is licensing its safety innovations for electric vehicles to the global automotive industry. Through this unique initiative, Renault is giving concrete support to Jean Todt, the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety. The first technology to be made available under a free licence is the Fireman Access. A safety device developed in partnership with the firefighters and currently only available on Renault vehicles. This innovation enables firefighters to extinguish an electric battery fire with water in less than 10 minutes, compared to several hours without water. Renault is thus pursuing its commitment to improving road safety for everyone, everywhere in the world.
What is UN.patent?
Renault is making this commitment as part of its “Human First Program” to promote road safety. The brand is sharing its safety initiatives and highlighting its technological positioning, focused on people. Today, to support the growth of the electric vehicle sector worldwide, Renault aims to reiterate that competition between manufacturers must not be at the expense of safety. Backed by 15 years of research and experience in electric vehicles, Renault is committed to safety by offering free or low-cost licenses for electric vehicle safety technologies.
What is the innovation of Fireman Access?
The Fireman Access is the result of a collaboration between Renault and the firefighters. This exclusive innovation enables emergency services to extinguish an electric vehicle battery fire in less than 10 minutes using a few hundred liters of water, compared to several hours and tens of thousands of liters of water without this device. A hole in the battery allows a fire hose to be inserted, submerging the battery in water to extinguish the fire.
An open-source innovation
Renault is making its Fireman Access patents available to the entire automotive industry via the open collaboration platform renault.co.uk/universalpatent. This platform allows any car manufacturer or equipment supplier to acquire a license for this innovation, free of charge and in open mode. In return, the licensee undertakes to ensure that any improvements made to the system benefit the entire community.
This initiative is the first concrete expression of Renault’s commitment, alongside the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, to carry out joint actions to raise awareness of road safety worldwide and to use technological innovation to save lives on the roads.
As part of this partnership, Renault is taking part in the 4th World Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, which is taking place in Marrakech from 18 to 20 February. This event is an opportunity for Renault to engage in dialogue with the delegates present and to publicize its historic commitment to road safety.
UN.patent: worldwide deployment from 19 February
Renault, with the help of Publicis Conseil, has teamed up with the film-makers duo AKATRE to produce a film announcing the launch of ‘universal patent’. With a sober, minimalist aesthetic, the film highlights the electric innovations developed by Renault, as well as all the R&D work carried out by its engineers, including the innovative of the Fireman Access. The film also highlights the collaboration between Renault and Jean, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety.
