FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE L'AUTOMOBILE

Their core work

The FIA is the global governing body for motorsport and a federation of automobile clubs worldwide, headquartered in Paris. In H2020, they contribute their unique position as the international voice of motoring organizations to shape policy, standards, and deployment strategies for connected and automated driving across Europe. They bring real-world user perspectives, driver behavior expertise, and industry coordination capacity to large-scale transport innovation projects. Their role bridges the gap between automotive technology development and the needs of actual road users, regulators, and mobility service providers.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2016–2018), FIA focused on ITS deployment coordination, automated driving pilots, and building community around connected car value chains — essentially preparing the ground for vehicle automation. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted decisively toward understanding real-world user acceptance, driver behavior with automated systems, and large-scale cross-border piloting demonstrations. The progression is clear: from planning and coordination to actual deployment testing and human factors research, culminating in Hi-Drive — their largest project by far.

FIA is moving from policy coordination toward hands-on deployment validation of higher-level vehicle automation, with growing emphasis on human factors and cross-border testing — expect them in future projects tackling real-world AD rollout challenges.

How they like to work

FIA participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator — consistent with their role as an international federation that adds policy reach and user representation rather than driving technical R&D. They work in large consortia (257 unique partners across 27 countries), indicating they are a trusted institutional partner that project coordinators seek out for legitimacy and stakeholder access. Their broad network and repeat involvement in transport projects suggests they are easy to work with and bring clear added value to consortium proposals.

FIA has collaborated with 257 unique partners across 27 countries, giving them one of the broadest networks in the European transport research ecosystem. Their partnerships span automotive OEMs, research institutes, city authorities, and technology providers across virtually all EU member states.

What sets them apart

FIA is the only global motoring federation active in H2020 transport research, giving them unmatched reach into national automobile clubs, motorsport organizations, and road safety bodies worldwide. No other H2020 partner can simultaneously represent the interests of everyday drivers and influence automotive industry standards at the international level. For consortium builders, FIA brings instant credibility, policy access, and a direct channel to disseminate project results to millions of motorists through their member clubs.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Hi-Drive
  Their largest project by far (EUR 700K funding, running to 2025), focused on higher-level automation deployment with large-scale cross-border demonstrations — represents the culmination of their AD involvement.
• L3Pilot
  Major piloting project for automated driving on European roads with EUR 300K funding, where FIA contributed to field operational tests of Level 3 automation.
• ELVITEN
  Their most diverse project combining electrified vehicles, field demonstrations, real usage data, and business model development — showing FIA's breadth beyond just automated driving.