Self-Driving Volvos On Sale in 2017

According to Khabar Khodro, Volvo is close to putting driverless cars into the hands of real consumers.

The brand’s ‘Drive Me’ program aims to put 100 XC90 SUVs with driverless technology in the hands of customers in Gothenburg, Sweden during 2017.

Volvo says it has built a “production-viable autonomous driving system,” that will be able to handle even the most complex traffic scenarios. Initially, the vehicles will only be able to operate fully autonomously on a select 31-mile piece of motorway chosen by Volvo because it has no oncoming traffic, cyclists or pedestrians.

Unlike other company’s driverless car testing, Volvo says that the drivers in its vehicles will not have to stay alert to the road ahead and can focus their time on other activities. This is also the first time that members of the public will have access to fully autonomous vehicles.

A combination of laser scanners, sensors, sonar and cameras make it possible for the autonomous Volvo to have a 360-degree view around itself. Connection to GPS allows the car to receive up-to-date traffic info while a cloud-based vehicle-to-vehicle positioning system will show the position of lane markers along with posts and other hard objects to the car.

Safety is one of the largest priorities for Volvo when it comes to driverless cars, so many emergency systems have been put in place.

Exactly how Volvo will choose the 100 customers is still unknown, although they will have to live or work along the 31-mile route.