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Watch this Volvo truck drive up a quarry road using hamster-powered steering

Volvo Trucks has been producing some of the most interesting and thrilling commercials around as of late, and this new one involves a live hamster. While you may wonder how could a hamster and a dump truck could be exciting, just know this ain't a Kia Soul commercial: the Swedish truck company enlists the help of a hamster named Charlie to steer an FMX construction truck up a winding road in Ourence, Spain. From the bottom of a quarry. We are not kidding you.
All we ask is that you watch the commercial below to see how it all goes down. If you like what you see, you can then check out a bonus 'behind the scenes' video and press release for details about how Volvo Trucks prepared for the stunt.

Junkyard Gem: 1969 Volvo 145 Wagon

Volvo managed to sell the 1940s-design PV544 and its 1950s-design Amazon descendant all the way into the mid-to-late 1960s in the United States, but those iconic machines were replaced here by one that began a line of even more iconic Volvos: the 140 Series. Starting with the 1968 model year, the 140 became available in the United States as a two-door sedan (the 142), a four-door sedan (the 144 and 164), and a station wagon (the 145). These rear-wheel-drive, brick-shaped cars later evolved into the 200 Series and its heirs, with the very last of the breed appearing here in the form of the 1998 S90/V90. That's a lot of history all wrapped up in one vehicle, and so I was pleased to find this 145 in a Denver-area car graveyard earlier this month. This car rolled out of Goteborg with a gleaming coat of Morkgron (dark green) paint and, according to this build tag, was built to California specifications. At some point, it made its way to Colorado. Very few US-market cars had six-digit odometers prior to the middle 1980s, but Volvo felt optimistic about their cars' longevity (at a time when reaching the magical 100,000-mile mark was something that rarely happened with non-Mercedes-Benz vehicles) and so now we can see that this car made it well past 200k miles. The 2.0-liter pushrod four-cylinder engine in this car can trace its ancestry back to the Amazons, P1800s, and PV544s of the early 1960s, and it was rated at 115 horsepower. A six-cylinder version of the 140 sedan, known as the 164, could be purchased here as well (though it had few American takers). But wait— what's that Detroit-looking two-barrel carburetor doing on an engine that's supposed to have a Stromberg 175? Yes, it's a GM-spec Rochester clone built at the ancient Bay City Plant (now known as GM Powertrain) in Michigan. Earlier Volvos came with a pair of British-made Skinner Union sidedrafts, which could be pretty painful to keep working right, but perhaps even the less-oddball Stromberg proved too much hassle for whoever installed this carb (which was meant to go on engines with much more displacement than a Volvo B20). Transmission choices in the 1969 140: a four-on-the-floor manual or a three-speed automatic. This car has the manual. The interior is pretty thrashed, as is usually the case with the 140s I find during my junkyard explorations.

Volvo at CES announces Ride Pilot autonomy coming to California, deeper Google integration

Volvo just made a number of technology announcements at this year’s CES. We learned more about the companyÂ’s efforts toward autonomy, and in the near term, VolvoÂ’s infotainment system is getting some noteworthy updates. WeÂ’ll start with autonomy, and the system that Volvo is calling “Ride Pilot.” Volvo says itÂ’s working with the autonomous driving software company Zenseact and Luminar to bring more autonomy to its future vehicles. Today, it announced that the “Ride Pilot” system that will ultimately arise from this collaboration will first be offered to customers in California before rolling it out in other regions. Volvo is limiting initial use to California, because it says "the climate, traffic conditions and regulatory framework provide a favorable environment for the introduction of autonomous driving." The system will take full control of the car when it's on. That means the driver can do what they want, not limited to reading, writing or working, Volvo says. "The name ‘Ride PilotÂ’ implies what the driver can expect: when the car is driving on its own, Volvo Cars takes responsibility for the driving, offering the driver comfort and peace of mind," Volvo explains. ItÂ’ll be available as an add-on subscription service to a fully electric SUV that will be revealed later this year. How much it will cost per month or per year is still a mystery, but you wonÂ’t be able to factor it in with the standard purchase price of the vehicle. Said EV will be equipped with five radars, eight cameras and sixteen ultrasonic sensors. Testing for the above autonomy system is set to take place in California by the middle of this year, and itÂ’s already ongoing in Sweden and across Europe. Only once Volvo says it's verified for use on highways will this feature be available to subscribe to. Volvo does not provide a year estimate on the initial rollout. Google and Android Automotive update Volvo cars with the Google-based Android Automotive infotainment system will soon be integrated with the Google Home ecosystem and Google Assistant-enabled devices. This should give you greater ability to control your car with any Google Assistant device in your home. You could theoretically set charging scheduling (for an EV or PHEV), lock your doors or start the car via voice command — for more sensitive commands like unlocking the car, Volvo says it will require a two-factor authentication.