Volvo launches world's first large-scale autonomous driving pilot scheme
Titled “Drive Me – Self-driving cars for sustainable mobility”, the pilot is intended to show the benefits of autonomous driving and is being run by Volvo, the Swedish Transport Administration, the Swedish Transport Agency, Lindholmen Science Park and the City of Gothenburg.
The project will start with customer research and technology development in 2014, with the first vehicles due on the roads by 2017.
The pilot will provide feedback from real customers driving on public roads and will involve self-driving cars using approximately 50km of selected roads in and around Gothenburg in everyday conditions. These roads are typical commuter arteries and include motorway conditions and frequent queues.
‘Our aim is for the car to be able to handle all possible traffic scenarios by itself, including leaving the traffic flow and finding a safe “harbour” if the driver for any reason is unable to regain control,’ said Erik Coelingh, technical specialist at Volvo Car Group.
‘The public pilot will provide us with a valuable insight into the societal benefits of making autonomous vehicles a natural part of the traffic environment. Smart vehicles are part of the solution, but a broad societal approach is also necessary to offer sustainable personal mobility in the future. We believe that this cross-functional co-operation can give this development a boost,’ said Mr Coelingh.
The project will also look at infrastructure requirements for autonomous driving, customers' confidence in autonomous vehicles and how surrounding drivers interact smoothly with a self-driving car.
The vehicles in the pilot project are defined as Highly Autonomous Cars, which means that the responsibility is handed over to the vehicle, which can handle all driving functions at the driver's discretion. Volvo adds that ‘the driver is expected to be available for occasional control but with a sufficiently comfortable transition time’.
The project also includes fully automated parking, without a driver in the car. This allows the driver to walk away from the car at the parking entrance while the vehicle finds a vacant spot and parks by itself.
The 100 Volvo cars driven by customers will be new models developed on the company's upcoming Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), which will first be showcased on the new Volvo XC90, due 2014.
Natalie Middleton
Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.
