The auto with Drive Me technology features 4 Radars that give a field view of the surroundings with a 140-degree angle.
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The company has officially kicked off its Drive Me project, what it calls the “world’s most ambitious and advanced public autonomous driving experiment”. The Drive Me cars will add hands-off and feet-off capability in special autonomous drive zones around Gothenburg.
But unlike just about every other auto maker – and non-car makers like Google and Uber – who are throwing billions at autonomous driving technology, Volvo is developing its technology to be ready for the real world by trialling it with real drivers and real families, not engineers behind the wheel. The Swedish automaker has even produced the very first autonomous vehicle that will be used in the project in Gothenburg.
The project will allow Volvo to collect feedback and input from real drivers using these autonomous cars in their everyday lives and then use that information in order to fine-tune the technology to make it possible for a commercial introduction around 2021. Testing of the vehicles will be conducted in a real-life situation and for this, the company has selected safe and popular routes in Gothenburg, where Volvo has tested the auto with a speed of around 70 km/h. For example, next year it will be ready to hand over the keys to customers in London for real-life testing and is assessing the feasibility of bringing “Drive Me” to a Chinese city.
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“This is an important milestone for the Drive Me project”, Volvo Cars senior technical leader of Active Safety Erik Coelingh said. Volvo is now assessing bids from interested cities in China to launch a Drive Me project there within the next few years. Earlier this week, Volvo revealed it will set up a new jointly-owned company together with leading automotive supplier Autoliv to develop next- generation autonomous driving software.
