Renault Revolutionizes EV Factory with Humanoid Robots for Heavy Lifting and Efficiency Boost

Renault has started implementing humanoid robots at their electric vehicle production plant in France. The company uses them to perform heavy, monotonous tasks to reduce physical strain on employees and increase production efficiency.

What's Known

The first robot is already working on the line: it moves tires and places them on a conveyor that delivers parts to the assembly. Over the next 18 months, Renault plans to expand its fleet of such devices to 350 units. This is part of a strategy to reduce production time for a single car by 30% and reduce costs by 20% within five years.

The robot was developed by New York-based startup Wandercraft. The Calvin-40 model is capable of lifting up to 40 kg and performing such operations hundreds of times a day without breaks. The robot is equipped with body-level cameras and LED indicators that show its status.

Unlike concepts like Tesla Optimus, the robot at the Renault factory does not fully mimic the human appearance. It is designed for autonomous work and integration into the industrial environment. This is already the second generation system, developed in just 40 days. The previous version was introduced in April 2025, and thanks to AI training, the work speed was doubled in less than six months.

In June 2025, Renault acquired a minority stake in Wandercraft, investing $75 million in development. Calvin-40 can be trained to extract parts of different types from containers, but currently, its capabilities are limited to lifting tires and moving panels in the body shop. Limiting factors are speed and dexterity.

Renault emphasizes that robots will not replace people in the final assembly, where high precision and flexibility are required. According to Renault's production head Thierry Charvet, such systems are not yet capable of performing complex operations on par with humans.

Source: InsideEVs