cars news 10: Volvo, Uber Team Up on Self-Driving Cars

Volvo and Uber have signed a $300 million deal to work together on self-driving cars, the companies announced today.

As part of the agreement, the two companies will test autonomous technologies on Volvo base vehicles. The new base vehicle will be based on Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture platform, which supports a large battery needed to power autonomous computing. While Volvo strives toward building fully autonomous vehicles, Uber will purchase vehicles from Volvo to test out its own self-driving system.

Volvo will also provide Uber with 100 self-driving XC90 vehicles to run on the streets of Pittsburg by the end of the year, reports Bloomberg. Customers will be able to request rides though the Uber app and will be paired with a driverless car at random.

Both companies say the alliance marks the beginning of a long-term partnership. “Over one million people die in car accidents every year. These are tragedies that self-driving technology can help solve, but we can’t do this alone,” Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said in a press release. “By combining the capabilities of Uber and Volvo we will get to the future faster, together.”

As you may guess, the partnership is not exclusive. In May, Toyota announced it will form a ride-sharing alliance with Uber. The ride-sharing company also has begun testing autonomous technology on the Ford Fusion Hybrid on the streets of Pittsburg.

Meanwhile, Volvo’s self-driving program is already well under way. A fleet of Volvo autonomous vehicles are bound for Gothenburg, Sweden, next year, and another test run will occur in London in 2018.

Source: Volvo, Bloomberg