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When did Renault first take an interest in bio-inspiration, and what concrete forms does it take today?

Renault has been in contact with experts in bio-inspiration for several years. This has even resulted in a partnership with the European Centre of Excellence in Biomimicry (CEEBIOS) in Senlis, France, initiated in 2015. We started a thesis on bio-inspiration to study how to use a plug-in hybrid powertrain. We drew inspiration on cellular metabolism, which differs according to the physical efforts of athletes.1

INTRODUCING

The Twin z is a concept car inspired by the living world

In 2017, we launched a research project in collaboration with academic laboratories and the equipment manufacturer, Faurecia. The goal was to find innovative solutions to keep surfaces and passenger compartments cleaner. With the rise of self-service car-sharing and the possibility of taxi robots2, tomorrow s vehicles will be faced with more problems of maintenance and quality of use than privately-owned vehicles. So, we came up with the idea of developing self- cleaning and self-repairable surfaces inspired by the superoleophobic cuticle that covers the body of the collembola,

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