|
LOS
ANGELES -- Volvo showed off several new
cars at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show. Of those, the "Drive
Me" self-driving car was revealed during the Connected Car
Expo on the first press day. The Swedish automaker claims this
modified V60 sportswagon is semi-autonomous, meaning that it will
take over the acceleration, steering and braking. It will only
require supervision from the driver. Volvo is testing 100 of these
"Drive Me" autonomous vehicles on Swedish roads right
now.
"This
is a prototype of a self-driving vehicle," said Erik Coelingh,
technical specialist at Volvo Cars. "We believe that self-driving
cars can contribute to a safer, more efficient, fuel-saving road
transportation system. We will actually provide our customers
the opportunity to do something else behind the steering wheel.
If you are stuck in a traffic jam and there is nowhere to go,
you can feel frustrated. You can press a button, have the car
drive for you and spend your time on whatever you want to."
Most
self-driving cars that I've seen like the ones I've from Google
have sensors on the roof and on the front and rear of the vehicle.
However, this Volvo is not like that at all. Sensors are automatically
built into the vehicle, making it invisible to other drivers and
pedestrians.
"Automate
the boring part of driving freeing up time to let people do something
more interesting while they're sitting there waiting," said
Volvo President and CEO Hakan Samuelsson. "I think we should
let the customer decide what to do with that time. But I think
we should be very open. I think we would like to invite Apple
CarPlay and Google into our cars to offer an alternative. That
is up to the customers. Safety is something that we're very credible.
We've been working with that since 1927 so why veer from that?
I think autonomous drive is one of the most powerful ways reducing
accidents in the future. Most of them are caused by human error."
Volvo
hopes to expand the autonomous driving program to the United States
in the next few years. Coelingh says that Los Angeles would be
the perfect test market because of its heavy traffic on the freeways.
Related
Stories: PREVIEW:
Nearly 60 world and North American debuts coming to the 2014 L.A.
Auto Show;
2016
Ford Explorer to be revealed at L.A. Auto Show this week;
Chrysler
debuts all-new 300, 300S and 300C luxury sedans at 2014 L.A. Auto
Show; Hyundai
to roll out Apple CarPlay on its 2015 Sonata midsize car;
Honda
introduces the 2016 HR-V small crossover at L.A. Auto Show;
2016
Mercedes-Maybach S600 revealed at L.A. Auto Show; Ford
shows off refreshed 2016 Explorer SUV at L.A. Auto Show; Mitsubishi
Concept XR-PHEV to replace the Outlander Sport; Chevrolet
shows off the Colorado ZR2 concept truck and the Chaparral 2X
VGT concept car; Kia
introduces redesigned 2016 Sorento crossover at L.A. Auto Show;
Cadillac
debuts 2016 ATS-V performance sedan and coupe at L.A. Auto Show;
L.A.
AUTO SHOW: Lincoln MKX Concept greenlit for 2016 model year
Self-driving
cars are convenient and can allow drivers to use their travel
time for other activities during pure transportation.
The
self-driving cars in the pilot program ´Drive Me –
Self-driving cars for sustainable mobility´ have sensors
that keep track of the car and the surrounding environment.
