It's meant to be affordable and stylish – aimed squarely at youngsters who like selfies and don't like traffic. 
 
 Renault has cobbled together a compact SUV concept called the Kwid. It’s meant to be affordable and stylish – aimed squarely at youngsters who like selfies and don’t like traffic. 
 
 In that spirit, the Kwid sports a little flying drone that can launch from the roof of the car, buzzing up ahead of it to scout out traffic conditions or hovering above it to record your ever-exciting commute. You could then share footage and photos of you driving, for instance. A car selfie, as it were. 
 
 In the above video, you can watch Renault staffers talk about the Kwid as though it’s a tried and true product, though don’t get too excited: This is simply a concept right now, which may or may not ever make it to market. Aside from the drone thing, the driving setup is a bit unique as well. Renault imagines the resurgence of the old-timey bench seat, except this time, the driver sits in the middle, with a passenger on either side. Cozy! 
 
 Renault Kwid [Renault.com via The Verge] ||||| Photo: Renault Photo: Renault Photo: Renault Photo: Renault Photo: Renault Photo: Renault ADVERTISEMENT Photo: Renault Photo: Renault Photo: Renault 
 
 Forget taco-copters or same-day shipping — drones are the perfect companion for off-roaders. They can scout locations, keep tabs on terrain, and when you’re back on paved roads, give you a heads up about that tool that flipped his pickup on your morning commute. And that’s exactly what the Renault Kwid concept is promising. 
 
 The French automaker is looking to get back into the Indian market, where high-riding compact crossovers are the norm, and the Kwid is Renault’s attempt at getting up-and-coming younger buyers into the fold. 
 
 Obviously, the inclusion of a quadrocopter — or “flying companion” in Renault-speak — is more of a gimmick than a production reality, but it still makes a sick bit of sense. The tiny drone can be controlled through either a tablet on the dash or by setting GPS waypoints, alerting the driver of obstacles in the road, beaming pictures back to the car, or videoing the Kwid’s travails. 
 
 The interior design was inspired by bird nests and the front seat can supposedly accommodate three humans, with the driver in the middle, while two more passengers can camp out in the back. Power is provided by a teeny 1.2-liter engine that sends its measly grunt through a dual-clutch gearbox and down to the front wheels, and Renault hints at the possibility of the Kwid using an electric motor, although it doesn’t provide power figures for either that or the engine. 
 
 Naturally, it’s a concept, so the Kwid is more of a styling exercise that will point the way forward for Renault’s designs, but in the interim, Jeep buyers would be wise to look into their own drone retrofits. ||||| Renault’s new concept car gives drivers an unusual companion: a small flying drone, controllable via tablet or preset GPS waypoints, which scans the area ahead for obstacles and traffic. 
 
 Designed with the Indian market in mind, the Renault Kwid has a SUV-style body that makes it ideal for off-roading. It’s the first concept car unveiled by the company outside of Europe. The so-called “flying companion” can exit the vehicle via a retractable hatch in the roof, and buzz around the immediate vicinity shooting video and photos; as this is a concept, actual hardware and software specs aren’t available, although Renault’s engineers envision something closer to the size of a small bird than some of the larger drones currently available. (Hat tip to Wired for the initial links to Renault’s concept videos.) 
 
 Renault’s engineers found their inspiration for the Kwid’s shape in American off-roaders, with a high chassis and sturdy lines; inside, the driver sits in the middle as opposed to the right or left, on a bench seat. The vehicle can accommodate five people total. 
 
 But how practical is a “driving drone”? Considering all the accidents caused by people texting or Web-surfing while driving, it seems questionable to introduce a piece of hardware that could prove even more distracting—imagine trying to successfully guide a drone with touch-screen controls while navigating a fast-paced roadway, and you can see why the idea of a “flying companion” would raise the collective blood pressure of traffic-safety officials. 
 
 Yes, it would be safer for a passenger to handle drone-flying duties while the driver concentrates on the road; but it’s also a near-certainty, if such a concept ever went into production, that more than one driver would attempt to multi-task the navigation of two vehicles at once. 
 
 The fact that a company like Renault is even playing with an auto-drone concept just makes it that much more imperative for the FAA (and similar bodies in other countries) to finalize rules for dealing with unmanned aerial vehicles—because the latter are entering domestic use, whether people like them or not. Amazon has publicly toyed with delivery drones (although there’s a widespread idea that such vaporware will never come to market), and ice fishermen in Wisconsin recently had their beer-delivery drone shut down by the FAA. How long until a Ford or Tesla starts playing with the idea of a drone companion to their latest vehicles? 
 
 Meanwhile, here’s Renault’s video: 
 
 Images/video: Renault
– A new Renault concept SUV comes with a buddy: a drone that soars out of a roof hatch to investigate traffic conditions or maybe off-roading hazards. Were the "flying companion," as the company calls it, to be produced, it would be about the size of a small bird, Slashdot reports. At this point, the drone "is more of a gimmick than a production reality, but it still makes a sick bit of sense," writes Damon Lavrinc at Wired. Controlled by a dashboard tablet or GPS system, the drone would send images or video back to the car. (Think of it as a "car selfie," notes Time.) Of course, all that gadgetry has Slashdot's Nick Kolakowski worried about yet another potential distraction for the modern driver, even if it's designed more for passengers to use. The drone may seem a little far-fetched, but "how long until a Ford or Tesla starts playing with the idea of a drone companion to their latest vehicles?" All the more reason for the FAA to get rules in place for domestic drones of all kinds, he writes. (Including any that might be delivering your Amazon products.)