Volvo Cars launches experiment Drive Me

Volvo Cars calls it “the world’s most ambitious and advanced public autonomous driving experiment.” On 9 September the Swedish premium car maker officially kicked off ‘Drive Me’, and presented the very first autonomous car that will be used in the project in Gothenburg.

Drive Me, the world’s most ambitious and advanced public autonomous driving experiment, starts today
Drive Me, the world’s most ambitious and advanced public autonomous driving experiment, starts today

The autonomous Volvo XC90 SUV was finalized in Volvo Cars’ special manufacturing facility in Torslanda this morning and is the first in a series of autonomous cars that will eventually be handed to real families in Gothenburg to be driven on public roads.

Volvo is the industry leader in the area of automotive safety and believes the introduction of AD technology promises to reduce car accidents. Furthermore, AD technology promises to free up congested roads, reduce pollution and allows drivers to use their time in their cars more valuably.

Volvo currently offers a semi-autonomous functionality called Pilot Assist on its 90 series cars. Pilot Assist gives gentle steering inputs to keep the car properly aligned within lane markings up to 130 km/h without the need to follow another car. The Drive Me cars will add hands-off and feet-off capability in special autonomous drive zones around Gothenburg, powered by what Volvo calls the Autonomous Driving Brain.

The Swedish company, whose name is synonymous with automotive safety, is pioneering the development of autonomous driving systems as part of its vision that no one will be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo by the year 2020.

It is the customer-focused approach that sets the Drive Me project apart from other autonomous driving experiments. Instead of relying purely on the research of its own engineers, Volvo aims to collect feedback and inputs from real customers using these autonomous cars in their everyday lives.

By choosing this customer-focused approach, Volvo aims to further fine-tune its autonomous driving technologies and make its offering as relevant as possible to customers ahead of a commercial introduction around 2021.

Drive Me, the world’s most ambitious and advanced public autonomous driving experiment, starts today
Drive Me, the world’s most ambitious and advanced public autonomous driving experiment, starts today

“This is an important milestone for the Drive Me project,” said Erik Coelingh, Senior Technical Leader Active Safety at Volvo Cars, as he observed the final touches being put to the car. “Customers look at their cars differently than us engineers, so we are looking forward to learn how they use these cars in their daily lives and what feedback they will give us.”

The Drive Me customer cars will undergo a rigorous testing phase to ensure that the cars’ advanced autonomous driving technology functions exactly as they should. Once this testing phase, overseen by Volvo’s highly capable engineers, is finalized the cars will be handed over to the customers participating in the Drive Me pilot.

The Drive Me pilot project in Gothenburg is the first in a number of planned public trials with autonomous driving Volvo cars. A similar project will be launched in London in 2017.

Volvo Cars also actively engages in strategic partnerships in the area of autonomous drive technology: One new partnership is with ride-sharing company Uber to jointly develop the next generation of autonomous driving cars. Volvo will also set up a new jointly-owned company together with leading automotive supplier Autoliv to develop next generation autonomous driving software.

About Joakim Persson

Freelance business and lifestyle photojournalist

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