Volvo has confirmed that the upcoming EV successor to the XC90, which will be revealed in 2022, will get industry-leading safety technology, including Luminar’s Lidar (light detection and ranging) tech and Nvidia’s Drive autonomous driving computer, as standard. 

This new safety package is aimed at reducing fatalities and accidents on a whole as the company strives to reduce the number of collisions on the road. The new technologies are specifically designed to address traffic situations that account for a large portion of the fatalities that still occur today.

Upon its introduction, the next-gen Volvo will supposedly be able to assist a human driver in safety-critical situations. Where previous-gen technologies prevent collisions by warning the driver, this new safety package will gradually increase its intervention rates as needed.

Sensors and AI-computing aside, the forthcoming flagship model is set to be fitted with backup systems for key functions such as steering and braking. This primes them to be hardware-ready for safe, unsupervised autonomous driving once available. Alongside Lidar, Volvo claims these backup systems will enable the Highway Pilot, an optional autonomous driving feature which can be activated on motorways when deemed safe under specific geographical locations and conditions. 

Earlier this year, the company announced it will use Nvidia technology to centralise computing. Thanks to over-the-air updates, it is claimed to make Volvo cars even safer while providing the necessary computing power for vision and Lidar processing.

Words: Arif Sharif