Volvo is using mixed-reality headsets while test driving vehiclesVolvo Volvo’s RD department just got a little cooler. The Swedish automaker claims it’s found a way to use mixed-reality headsets to cut costs and improve efficiencies while developing new vehicles. In case you’re not up to speed on the nuances of the various digital realities, mixed reality places digital objects in the real world, allowing users to see things that aren’t really there. So, Volvo – in partnership with Finnish startup Varjo – has been strapping mixed-reality headsets to its developers and sending them out for drives in the real world. That sounds fun and also reckless, but the brand claims it’s mostly in the name of safety. According to the press release, the XR-1 goggles “allows Volvo Cars designers and engineers to ‘drive’ future cars and evaluate all features in a simulation environment many years before they exist, enabling the company to develop the safest cars with the most refined user experience possible.” Automotive News asked Varjo CEO Niko Eiden to provide some examples of the kinds of tasks developers are using the headsets for. “You can experiment with new dashboard layouts while driving an existing car because what you see blends perfectly into reality,” he told the publication. “We have also integrated eye tracking. So, for example, if a warning light is blinking in the right-hand side corner of the dashboard, we can immediately test how quickly the driver is actually reacting. That means we can automate a lot of the testing processes that were previously much more difficult to measure.” Volvo is using mixed-reality headsets while test driving vehicles Volvo Also, according to the press photos, it can also put a virtual moose on the highway. Volvo claims to be the first out of the gate with this tech, but starting this year, Varjo’s headsets will be fair game for other industry competitors.
Origin: Volvo is using mixed-reality headsets to develop vehicles
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Volvo signs multi-billion dollar EV battery supply deal
Volvo has bolstered its electrified model roll-out by signing long-term deals with battery makers CATL and LG Chem in a move set to “ensure the multi-billion dollar supply of lithium ion batteries over the coming decade for Volvo and Polestar models,” said the car maker. Volvo announced in 2017 that, from this year, all of its new models would be electrified. It also wants 50 per cent of its global sales to be electric cars by 2025. This agreement with CATL of China and LG Chem of South Korea will help secure that goal, and comes ahead of Volvo launching its first electric car later this year, a zero-emission variant of the existing XC40 compact SUV. The issue of battery supply is crucial for car makers as the industry forges ahead with electrification: in the last 18 months, a number of manufacturers are understood to have faced supply shortages forcing electric vehicle delays. This deal covers battery supply for the next generation of Volvo’s larger models, such as the XC60 and XC90, which will be built on a new SPA2 platform as well as cars on the maker’s existing CMA platform used in smaller models such as the XC40 and Polestar 2. “The future of Volvo Cars is electric and we are firmly committed to moving beyond the internal combustion engine,” said Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo CEO. “Today’s agreements with CATL and LG Chem demonstrate how we will reach our ambitious electrification targets.” Volvo’s first battery assembly line will launch before the end of the year at Volvo’s plant in Ghent, Belgium where the electric XC40 will be built. Plug-in hybrid variants of the XC40 are already underway on the
Origin: Volvo signs multi-billion dollar EV battery supply deal
Volvo announces multi-billion dollar battery supply deal
Volvo has bolstered its electrified model roll-out by signing long-term deals with battery makers CATL and LG Chem in a move set to “ensure the multi-billion dollar supply of lithium ion batteries over the coming decade for Volvo and Polestar models,” said the car maker. Volvo announced in 2017 that, from this year, all of its new models would be electrified. It also wants 50 per cent of its global sales to be electric cars by 2025. This agreement with CATL of China and LG Chem of South Korea will help secure that goal, and comes ahead of Volvo launching its first electric car later this year, a zero-emission variant of the existing XC40 compact SUV. The issue of battery supply is crucial for car makers as the industry forges ahead with electrification: in the last 18 months, a number of manufacturers are understood to have faced supply shortages forcing electric vehicle delays. This deal covers battery supply for the next generation of Volvo’s larger models, such as the XC60 and XC90, which will be built on a new SPA2 platform as well as cars on the maker’s existing CMA platform used in smaller models such as the XC40 and Polestar 2. “The future of Volvo Cars is electric and we are firmly committed to moving beyond the internal combustion engine,” said Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo CEO. “Today’s agreements with CATL and LG Chem demonstrate how we will reach our ambitious electrification targets.” Volvo’s first battery assembly line will launch before the end of the year at Volvo’s plant in Ghent, Belgium where the electric XC40 will be built. Plug-in hybrid variants of the XC40 are already underway on the
Origin: Volvo announces multi-billion dollar battery supply deal
This app will help you if you crash your Volvo
Volvo Car Accident AdvisorVolvo Crashing your car isn’t fun, and the worst part about doing it is the uncertainty of what to do afterward. Luckily, Volvo is taking some of the guesswork out of car accidents with its new mobile app. The app is aptly called Car Accident Advisor, and is designed to guide you through the first steps you need to take following a minor fender-bender. First, you must confirm to Volvo Customer Care that you are uninjured and that emergency services are not needed; then you will receive a text with a link to the advisor. The app requires that you have a data or internet connection, and then it will guide you through the next steps. The app will prompt the driver to take photographs of the damaged areas and the scene around the vehicles, as well as record facts about the scene. The app can also compile a report to send to your insurance company, and search for repair shops. The whole system should amount to a less stressful experience, as well as a faster repair time for the vehicle and quicker claim response from the insurance company. Obviously, if you are in a larger accident, the app might not be the best thing to use, but for small accidents with other drivers or even with objects, the step-by-step instructions make the whole process less disorienting. The service is available for vehicles model year 2015-and-a-half and up automatically, and via the in-car SOS communications system in newer
Origin: This app will help you if you crash your Volvo
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