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Volvo's electric XC90 SUV to include lidar as standard equipment next year

DETROIT — Volvo Cars plans to make lidar sensors standard equipment in a new generation of its XC90 SUV next year as part of a strategy to deploy more advanced safety and automated driving technology that relies on precise images of the world around the vehicle. The decision by Volvo Cars to fold lidar sensors into the base price of its vehicle is a bet that customers will pay for the additional capability. It has been called a "watershed moment" by some in the industry. The Swedish brand, owned by China's Geely group, is taking a sharply different road from rival Tesla Inc, which has shunned lidar and radar and is focusing on just cameras and software for its automated driving systems. Self-driving car sensor startup Luminar Technologies Inc will supply Volvo Cars with its Iris lidar and Sentinel software in combination with software from Volvo in the electric XC90 SUV that will be built in South Carolina and go on sale in 2022, the companies said. The new technologies are designed to address traffic situations that often result in severe injuries and fatalities. Over time, the technology will become more capable and will increasingly intervene to prevent collisions, the companies said. "By having this hardware as standard, we can continuously improve safety features over the air and introduce advanced autonomous drive systems," Volvo Cars Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement. Lidar sensors, which use laser light pulses to render precise images of the environment around the car, are seen as essential by many automakers to enable obstacle detection and avoidance in advanced driving assistance systems and eventually in fully automated vehicles. Complete sensor set on on electric successor to XC90 Until now, lidar has been too costly for automakers to implement as anything other than an option that costs extra. Luminar CEO Austin Russell said the pricing for its lidar is on the order of $1,000 per unit. Volvo Cars' chief technology officer, Henrik Green, said cost is not the focus for the Swedish auto brand. While the price of the technology will come down over time as volumes grow, the rollout will accelerate use of automated services that the company can charge for. Green said subsequent vehicles will add the lidar package as standard, and that this continues Volvo Cars' history of being first to standardize many safety features, including three-point seat belts and side-impact airbags.

Volvo's next-generation cars will feature gaming-derived graphics

Volvo joined forces with Epic Games, the company that created the Fortnite franchise, to give its next-generation cars a faster infotainment system with vastly improved graphics. Using technology gleaned from the world of gaming promises to unlock a long list of new features. Don't expect to see a Fortnite-themed display in the XC90's replacement; the partnership isn't going that far. Volvo explained that it will use the Unreal Engine, a real-time 3D creation tool developed for industries outside of the gaming world, to develop the digital interface it will program into future additions to its range. This technology will allow it to deliver richer colors, sharper renderings and new 3D animations. Good graphics aren't worth much if the software is annoying to use, so Volvo will power its next infotainment system with the third-generation Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms designed by Qualcomm. We're told that the end result is a system that's over twice as fast as the one Volvo currently uses, and whose graphic generation and processing capacities are up to 10 times faster. Volvo hasn't released a video of the software in action yet, but we won't have to wait long to see it: the feature will debut in a new flagship model due out by the end of 2022. This isn't the first time that Volvo has enlisted the help of a technology company to design an infotainment system. Its current cars (like the C40 Recharge) are fitted with Google's Android Automotive OS infotainment system. And, the worlds of gaming and in-car technology have collided before: Nissan notably asked Polyphony Digital, the company behind the Gran Turismo franchise, to design the GT-R's display. Featured Gallery Volvo's Epic Games-powered infotainment system Volvo Technology Infotainment

Volvo EX30 city car to launch next year as entry model

At the end of the presentation for the battery-electric 2023 Volvo EX90, automaker CEO Jim Rowan gave everyone a tease of a smaller model to debut next year. Sitting in the dark next to an equally dark EX90, the new model looked like a Mini Me version of the EX90 down to the chunky stance and taillight signature. There were rumblings among media that this was the new EX30. In an interview with Automotive News Europe, Rowan confirmed suspicions by calling the new small car by that name. The EX30 will take up the entry slot in the Volvo lineup, offered as part of the Care by Volvo subscription service to keep the price down for its Gen Z target market of first-time car buyers. Dimensions are unknown, but the EX30 sits on the same Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) as the new Smart #1. The Smart is 168.1 inches long, 72 inches wide, and 64.4 inches wide. Our XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge, both sitting on Volvo's Compact Modular Architecture (CMA), are 174.8 inches long, 75.2 inches wide, and 65 inches high. Dimensions roundabout those of the Smart seem like a good starting point for the EX30's size. Staying there for a moment, the Smart packs a 66-kWh battery, one motor making 268 horsepower, and can go up to 273 miles on a charge on the WLTP cycle. Rowan said Volvo will offer a choice of batteries in the EX30 "so a customer can choose the range that best fits their lifestyle and their budget." Remember, the Honda-e sells in markets like Europe with 35-kWh battery good for a range good for about 135 miles on a charge. The CEO said these Gen Z buyers "still want top safety equipment, a fantastic ride and high quality." A lower price for a battery with a local range keeps that demographic in the loop, which also helps Volvo reach its goal of selling 1.2 million vehicles globally by 2025. That year is also important from Rowan's perspective because that's when he believes ICE vehicles and EVs will reach price parity. At the moment, the ICE XC40 starting price is $17,200 less than the XC40 Recharge. Barring further global upheavals, Rowan said, "I still think we are very much on track for price parity, because prices will come down pretty quickly when supply starts to meet demand again. In addition, we are starting to see some really interesting things when it comes to anode and cathode materials and battery chemistries such as the use of LFP (lithium iron phosphate) in certain cases.