Volvo sets new safety standards, all-electric XC90 will be equipped with LiDAR as standard

Volvo announced that its upcoming XC90 all-electric SUV will be available in 2022, and all models will be equipped with lidar as standard to meet its (next generation) safety standards. Volvo hopes to set a new standard for automotive safety with this state-of-the-art lidar sensor developed by Luminar. At the same time, Volvo also plans to configure other safety features to reduce accidents and pave the way for the application of autonomous driving systems in the future.

Volvo also revealed that the all-electric XC90 will debut later next year. Although no word yet on the exact model, we assume it will be called the "XC90 Recharge Pure Electric" and will be in the same family as the electrified versions of the C40 and XC40. The new cars show Volvo's determination to achieve its electrification goals - 50% electrification of its cars by 2025 and all pure electric sales by 2030. To achieve this goal, Volvo has built its first carbon-neutral factory in Sweden.

With Volvo's recently announced lidar safety standards, we can see that car safety and carbon emissions seem to be equally important to Volvo.

(Volvo roof laser sensor)

Specifically, the press release issued by Volvo Cars USA stated that the XC90 will use the lidar technology developed by Luminar and the autonomous driving system driven by the NVIDIA DRIVE Orin integrated chip, and all these new technologies will become standard equipment for the car. Volvo believes that these latest technologies will further help drivers avoid collisions, thereby reducing passenger casualties and other injuries.

“Volvo Cars has always been a leader in safety. Now, it will define the next generation of automotive safety standards,” explained Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo Cars CEO. “By making this hardware standard in our cars, we can continue to improve safety features and introduce advanced automated driving systems, thus strengthening our leadership in safety.”

(Volvo XC90 sensor diagram)

With the introduction of lidar and other safety technologies in the new XC90, Volvo expects these technologies to become more sophisticated and use artificial intelligence to further assist drivers in dangerous situations. In addition, Volvo expects the car's crash rate to decrease faster over time due to over-the-air software updates.

“Our long-term goal is to achieve zero collisions and avoid collisions altogether,” explained Chief Technology Officer Henrik Green. “As we continue to improve our safety technology with over-the-air software updates, we expect collisions to become increasingly rare and hopefully save more lives.”

In addition to the above sensor suite and artificial intelligence, Volvo's upcoming all-electric XC90 will also be equipped with backup systems for key functions such as steering and braking. These backup hardware systems will pave the way for safe unsupervised autonomous driving.