Renault recently revealed their new concept for an autonomous vehicle that fully integrates into one's home. Called the Symbioz, the idea seems obvious enough—many models for self-driving vehicles have interiors that convert into arrangements typical of the living room and this one comes dressed in wood, marble, felt and porcelain afforded by its large car proportions.

Beyond the interior, the car and home share energy that is distributed through a smart grid. This system allows the home to use power stored in the batteries of the car temporarily for lights, screens, and home appliances during periods of peak use or in the event of a blackout. In reverse, drivers can program their car to use the home’s energy for recharging when needed. Additionally, the car can plan ahead and adapt to usage by syncing to the owner's calendar and drawing charge from the grid accordingly. 

Drivers can switch between manual and autonomous modes of driving and while in the latter, the interior offers three different configurations. The first is that which is typical for a car, but with a retracted steering wheel and dashboard allowing extra room. The second, called the "French Kiss," allows the driver and first passenger to snuggle up and the final "Relax" mode allows driver to recline in a zero-gravity position.

While at the home, the car is meant to be parked inside your home, offering up an additional living space, which seems like a bit of a stretch. In the demo above, the car is lifted by elevator to the second floor or rooftop where it can be stored because who wouldn't want to install an elevator in their home, effectively taking away a good chunk of usable floor space, in order to put a car on the roof and gain some of it back. The notion that someone would prefer spending time within their car—that is on the roof of their house need I remind you—over just having a nice, and dramatically less expensive, balcony is an additionally flimsy concept. While billed as a "snug, mobile, comfortable and modular extra room," the thought of this car actually being used as such seems delusional despite how useful it might be while in drive.