Volvo did away with the usual script during its time slot last week at the Detroit auto show. Instead of the customary unveiling of a new vehicle on its stage, the luxury carmaker unveiled a family.
Stepping out of Sweden and into the spotlight were the Hains, a family of four who live near Volvo?s global headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. They?re the first people enrolled in the company?s Drive Me program, a pilot project set up to analyze the interactions between autonomous technologies and human motorists. When they hit the road later this year in the properly equipped Volvo XC90, Alex, Paula, and their daughters, Filippa, 16, and Smilla, 13, may be the first ordinary people in the world to get keys to a self-driving car.
The novelty of the technology aside, the family members say they are not necessarily eager to be public-road guinea pigs. They?re more interested in getting a glimpse of how autonomous cars might augment their lives by easing commutes and aiding the always delicate balance of work and leisure time. Both parents work, and their children are active in school activities and sports. ?I think a self-driving car would add one thing to my life, and that?s time,? said Alex, an IT manager. The Hains? appearance in Detroit served as a formal kickoff for the Drive Me program and underscored Volvo?s efforts to focus attention on one area of autonomous development that its leaders feel has been overlooked.

?We are not standing there waving a chipboard and saying ...