“Ride Pilot aims to free up more time for customers and make driving a Volvo even more convenient and enjoyable,” according to the company. “By using Ride Pilot, drivers will be able to free up time while driving, and spend it on secondary activities like reading, writing, working or socialising,” Volvo said.
Once it has been verified as safe for use on highways, Ride Pilot will be available as an add-on subscription on the company’s forthcoming fully electric sport-utility vehicle. This new flagship car will be revealed later this year. While this software-sensor combination will be standard on the imminent flagship, Ride Pilot will be made available to customers only once it has gone through verification and testing. This includes validation of the technology as safe for use on highways in a number of varying conditions.
By the middle of this year, the company intends to begin testing on roads in California, where the climate, traffic conditions and regulatory framework provide a favourable environment for the introduction of autonomous driving.