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In August, Volvo and Uber established a venture to build base vehicles that could be used as a platform for fully autonomous cars. The first vehicles were tested successfully in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania – now the companies have moved onto The City by the Bay, where self-driving XC90 SUVs are in operation.
As part of the pilot program, the XC90s will travel around San Francisco autonomously but an Uber technician will be in the vehicle at all times.
The expansion marks a deepening relationship between the two companies.
“The promise of self-driving ride sharing is becoming a reality,” said MÃ¥rten Levenstam, Vice President, Product Planning, Volvo Cars. “Volvo is proud to be at the forefront of the latest developments in the automotive world alongside our partners at Uber.” Technological Trifecta
Currently, Volvo is invested in three rather prolific autonomous driving endeavors. The first is the relationship with Uber, where both pledged a combined $300 million USD to the project. Volvo produces the base vehicles, which are then purchased by Uber. Upon arrival, Uber outfits them with their own self-driving technology package.
Uber and Volvo will use the same base vehicles for their individual and ongoing autonomous programs.
Volvo’s fully modular Scalable Product Architecture, stylized as “SPA,” serves as the...