Volvo Cars is to begin the UK’s most ambitious autonomous driving trial next year to speed up the introduction of a technology designed to massively reduce car accidents as well as free up congested roads and save driver time. Real families will partake in the test, which will be called Drive Me London.
Volvo will source its data from these everyday users and use it to develop autonomous cars that are suitable for real-world driving conditions, rather than the more unrealistic conditions found on test tracks. Thatcham Research will provide the technical data analysis and any professional test drivers needed as part of the trial.
Drive Me London will begin in early 2017 with a limited number of semi-autonomous-driving cars and expand in 2018 to include up to 100 autonomous cars, making it the largest and most extensive autonomous driving test program on Britain’s streets.
“There are multiple benefits to autonomous driving vehicles,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO, Volvo Car Group. “That is why governments globally need to put in place the legislation and infrastructure to allow AD cars onto the streets as soon as possible. The car industry cannot do it all by itself. We need governmental help.”
April 28, 2016