Bold claim: Volvo Cars’ unsupervised autonomous driving feature Ride Pilot to debut in California

Once it has been verified as safe and all necessary approvals have been secured, the company’s ambition is to introduce Ride Pilot in California first, before gradually rolling out in other markets and regions around the globe.

By using Ride Pilot, drivers will be able to free up time while driving, and spend it on secondary activities like reading, writing, working or socialising. The feature can also help drivers arrive at their destination rested and recharged, by reducing the mental strain that may come with driving, especially in traffic jams or heavy traffic.

The name ‘Ride Pilot’ 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.

Luminar’s LiDAR sensor will complement five radars, eight cameras and sixteen ultrasonic sensors in Volvo Cars’ upcoming fully electric SUV. This standard sensor set-up provides excellent vision and perception reliability. Together with continuous, over-the-air software rollouts the system will ensure full redundancy and enable Volvo Cars to achieve safe autonomous driving with Ride Pilot.

Volvo Cars’ unsupervised autonomous driving feature Ride Pilot to debut in California

Volvo Cars will introduce its unsupervised autonomous driving feature Ride Pilot to customers in the state of California first.

www.media.volvocars.com

As usual I'm skeptical. I like that Volvo is going to release this in California first, right on Tesla's home turf. Maybe this year FSD will be "eyes off" here too?

 

[diplomat33]

Volvo Cars’ unsupervised autonomous driving feature Ride Pilot to debut in California

Volvo Cars will introduce its unsupervised autonomous driving feature Ride Pilot to customers in the state of California first.

www.media.volvocars.com

As usual I'm skeptical. I like that Volvo is going to release this in California first, right on Tesla's home turf. Maybe this year FSD will be "eyes off" here too?

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

It is normal to be skeptical since autonomous driving is still pretty new (with only a few geofenced robotaxis so far). It is certainly possible that Ride Pilot could get delayed or cancelled. Just because a company promises something does not automatically mean that it will happen. Having said that, it should be noted that many companies are working on FSD. Tesla does not have a monopoly on working on FSD. Volvo has been working on FSD. And Ride Pilot is limited to highways only. It is certainly possible that Volvo has good enough L4 highway and Ride Pilot will work great. I hope it does work.

 

[AndreP]

Interesting, definitely lots of questions around that but it sounds similar to what Mercedes is doing in Germany and Volvo's article mentions "especially" reducing the strain in traffic jams or heavy traffic. Probably an ODD limited to specific mapped roads and maybe with similar speed restrictions considering this would be Volvo Cars actually taking responsibility for the driving when the system is active.

 

[diplomat33]

Maybe this year FSD will be "eyes off" here too?

Who wants to bet that Elon will push for FSD to be "eye's off" on highways this year to try to beat Volvo? Elon seems to react when other companies announce some sort of FSD. He does not like it when it looks other companies are beating Tesla to FSD.

 

[Tam]

...Volvo is going to release...

Hope it will do better than what they announced in 2017 that they would release Audi Traffic Jam Pilot. It kept delaying until 2020 and decided to cancel it.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Who wants to bet that Elon will push for FSD to be "eye's off" on highways this year to try to beat Volvo? Elon seems to react when other companies announce some sort of FSD. He does not like it when it looks other companies are beating Tesla to FSD.

Of course because I live in California and own a Tesla (like everyone else here).

It is normal to be skeptical since autonomous driving is still pretty new

I'm more skeptical because autonomous driving is not new and has been almost ready to release for decade.

I think Volvo going with a subscription plan makes sense and is definitely the way these features will be sold in future. That way the manufacturer can change the ODD of the system as necessary and not worry about customers suing them.

 

[momo3605]

Who wants to bet that Elon will push for FSD to be "eye's off" on highways this year to try to beat Volvo? Elon seems to react when other companies announce some sort of FSD. He does not like it when it looks other companies are beating Tesla to FSD.

I agree, but Elon is usually reactively vengeful with competitors. Lucid dropped the expected price of their base car like last year and 24 hours later, model S dropped to $69,420. In addition, Taycan turbo S Nurburgring time came out, and shortly after official plaid prototype time was made public.

So yes, I think he will, but only if Volvo actually beats him. Volvo already said it’s not happening in 2022, so I don’t think Elon would be worried about it at this point.

 

[AndreP]

The regulatory side of receiving hands- and eyes-off approval would be the bottleneck that I think Tesla would need to be working on to match what Volvo is proposing here

I believe that would need to include permitting for testing of autonomous vehicles and then regulatory approval for deployment of an actual Level 3 system? Nothing like this exists in the US right now.

 

[Daniel in SD]

The regulatory side of receiving hands- and eyes-off approval would be the bottleneck that I think Tesla would need to be working on to match what Volvo is proposing here

I believe that would need to include permitting for testing of autonomous vehicles and then regulatory approval for deployment of an actual Level 3 system? Nothing like this exists in the US right now.

It exists in many states though including California. Here's the form (https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/...nomous-vehicles-on-public-streets-ol-321-pdf/)

 

[AndreP]

It exists in many states though including California. Here's the form (https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/...nomous-vehicles-on-public-streets-ol-321-pdf/)

Oh yeah I've seen that application, and Volvo said in their article that California was picked because of the favorable climate and regulatory framework

I don't think anyone has ever applied for a Level 3 consumer vehicle in the US though

 

[TNTeslå]

I have a 2020 XC60 with their “pilot assist” and will admit it’s very good on the highway with following, lane keeping, stop-start traffic, etc. Will be interesting to see how much of an improvement this is.

 

[cobra]

I have a 2020 XC60 with their “pilot assist” and will admit it’s very good on the highway with following, lane keeping, stop-start traffic, etc. Will be interesting to see how much of an improvement this is.

Does it do any lane changes?

 

[EVNow]

Volvo Cars’ unsupervised autonomous driving feature Ride Pilot to debut in California

Volvo Cars will introduce its unsupervised autonomous driving feature Ride Pilot to customers in the state of California first.

www.media.volvocars.com

As usual I'm skeptical. I like that Volvo is going to release this in California first, right on Tesla's home turf. Maybe this year FSD will be "eyes off" here too?

Absolutely no timelines. It is supposed to be releasing with next EV SUV, which will be revealed later this year. When will the SUV deliveries start ?

Interesting, definitely lots of questions around that but it sounds similar to what Mercedes is doing in Germany and Volvo's article mentions "especially" reducing the strain in traffic jams or heavy traffic. Probably an ODD limited to specific mapped roads and maybe with similar speed restrictions considering this would be Volvo Cars actually taking responsibility for the driving when the system is active.

Could be. Would CA regulations allow that ?

 

[EVNow]

So yes, I think he will, but only if Volvo actually beats him. Volvo already said it’s not happening in 2022, so I don’t think Elon would be worried about it at this point.

But only if it is a true L3 at highway speeds - not just below 37mph on highways (LOL) like Mercedes.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Could be. Would CA regulations allow that ?

I don't see why not. The permit to deploy clearly allows L3 vehicles.

 

[EVNow]

I don't see why not. The permit to deploy clearly allows L3 vehicles.

But only below 37 mph ? How is the transition between 37 mph and 38 mph handled ?

ps : The form just wants the company to describe ODD, so, I guess it can be anything. Even just one small 1 mile section of freeway at 10 mph.

 

[Daniel in SD]

But only below 37 mph ? How is the transition between 37 mph and 38 mph handled ?

ps : The form just wants the company to describe ODD, so, I guess it can be anything. Even just one small 1 mile section of freeway at 10 mph.

Correct, California does not regulate ODD (L5 vehicles are also allowed). You do have to document how the system will deal with handover when it leaves its ODD.

 

[sids911]

I have a 2020 XC60 with their “pilot assist” and will admit it’s very good on the highway with following, lane keeping, stop-start traffic, etc. Will be interesting to see how much of an improvement this is.

I second that. We have the same car with pilot assist and it works very well (almost on par with basic autopilot). I say almost since pilot assists sometimes looses track of the lane when turns come up While Tesla AP is rock solid.

 

[sids911]

Does it do any lane changes?

No. It’s like base AP.

 

[daktari]

No. It’s like base AP.

The BMW iX though does lane changes. Euro style; need to start the blinker and hand on wheel. First car I know after Tesla to do this, in fact a bit smoother and easier also than my previous Model 3.