Close your eyes and picture this.
A long day of road traveling with friends from the beach or a great concert in Philly or New York, or maybe you’re all alone heading back from a business trip full of exhausting conferences to make it home for dinner with the family in Falls Church or Alexandria. Either way, you’re saddled with the role of driver, aka “head road warrior”. You are pondering getting a hotel or taking a stop to rest when you realize, wait a second! You can ease those hands off the wheel and keep going to your destination.
Actually, okay, don’t close your eyes *right now* and picture this if you’re driving at the moment – but soon, in a Volvo, you could be on a highway and actually rest your weary peepers at the helm of a drive. Doc Brown thought that we needed flying cars by 2015, but isn’t this so much more visionary to implement by 2020? (Sorry Doc, I assure you that I still love your 1980’s time machine adventures, and I would still very much like a hoverboard for when I’m fleeing bullies).
Self-driving technology is the new frontier for automotive travel, and Volvo is cruising on the cutting edge as always. In pursuit of this grand goal to have the option of self-driving vehicles, Volvo has partnered with a technology firm, Luminar, to assist in creating this dream into a reality for our future vehicles, with goals for production to begin in 2022.
This article explains that “to enable the Highway Pilot feature, Luminar’s perception technology will be combined with autonomous drive software and the cameras, radars and back-up systems for functions such as steering, braking and battery power installed on forthcoming Volvo cars equipped for self-driving. Put together, this gives Volvo users who want it access to a safe, fully self-driving feature for use on highways.”
This will also be considered among “the most life-saving technologies” for a vehicle that never ceases to put safety first, hand tightly in hand with superior innovation. Volvo is carrying us with care into the future with a product that has proven its permanent greatness in the past. As much fun as driving is, won’t it be a brilliant day when you can hand over the keys to your most trusted friend: your very own Volvo?!? We are living in remarkable times, people. Remarkable times.
Stay well, stay safe, and the best is yet to come, Volvoland!