A car that drives itself. That's the dream, right?

For the longest time, though, it has remained as such: a dream. But a lot of automakers are beginning to tinker with the idea of an autonomous driving vehicle, and one that has been at the forefront of that is Renault.

The French->ke2093 automaker's Next Two Autonomous Prototype->ke146 is the culmination of years of testing and development. We probably shouldn't even say culmination because the project is still a long ways away from being completed, but we all know where this is going.

Renault is developing a vehicle that could drive itself, similar to what we saw from the Jetsons back in the day. It still doesn't fly -- one technology at a time! -- but having a car that drives itself while everyone on board gets to check their social media accounts?

That's a pretty good start, right?

Click past the jump to read more about Renault Next Two Prototype

2014 Renault Next Two Autonomous Prototype

Specifications
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  • Model: 2014 Renault Next Two Autonomous Prototype
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Pros
Cons

Exterior

The Renault Next Two Autonomous Prototype looks to be based on the Renault ZOE, the French company's resident electric hatchback. So as you can expect, the Next Two carries all of the ZOE's styling, right down to the round face, the large headlights that take up quite a lot of real estate up front, and those side marker lights that are barely distinguishable from afar.

Over on the side, the Next Two features a sporty styling, too, specifically that swopping body line on the rear that adds a little flavor to an otherwise simplistic-looking hatchback.

Interior

The interior of the Next Two is also largely similar to the ZOE, save for a few pertinent details. The display on the center console is surprisingly large relative to the space available on the dashboard. Speaking of the dash, it does look clean, albeit added with splashes of blue inserts that conveys that cool ambience Renault is probably going for.

One distinct difference is the absence of a transmission on the Next Two. Maybe we can't see it, but the center stack appears to have been configured with buttons to control the autonomous technology Renault is currently developing.

Promoting the car as an autonomous vehicle also gave Renault the idea to outfit the cabin with a smart modem that connects automatically to the best available network and a multimedia platform compatible with all operating systems, making it easy for the driver and passengers to surf the web while the car is driving by itself. Genius!

Drivetrain

Hard to tell what Renault is packing under that hood and how it complements the autonomous technology it has. As it stands, no details have been announced on what kind of engine it'll carry, but if it does, it'll probably somewhere along the lines of a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder type.

Conclusion

The idea is awesome if for the simple fact that drivers won't have to drive anymore. But realistically, the Next Two Autonomous Prototype is still a long ways away, something Renault even admitted to. Should everything fall into place, the car could be out by 2020, but that's six years away from now.

If the car does make it to production, you can expect it to fetch a lot of interest from the public.