[TusharK]

Volvo has signed an agreement with ride sharing company Uber to supply autonomous drive compatible vehicles. Volvo is said to deliver thousands of vehicles with self-drive capabilities starting from 2019 to 2021.



According to Volvo, the vehicles will be developed in-house and will be based on the Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) that underpins its modern line up including the XC90, S90, V90 and the new XC60. The company has developed safety redundancies and autonomous driving technologies for the XC90. These systems have been developed in close cooperation with Uber's engineers.

Volvo plans to use the same vehicles to develop its own independent autonomous car strategy and is planning to launch its first fully autonomous car in 2021. Meanwhile, Jeff Miller, Head of Auto Alliances at Uber has said that the new agreement will allow the company to introduce self-driving vehicles on a large scale.

Earlier this year, a self-driven Volvo XC90 prototype had crashed in Arizona, USA. Following the crash, Uber had suspended all road tests of autonomous cars.

Link to Team-BHP News

[agambhandari]

Apart from the obvious difference in the way of cab driving(autonomous), I think this shows a big shift in the Uber's operations. Currently they own none of the cars operating with their brand. And with the autonomous cars entering, I'm sure they wouldn't offer/tempt others enough to send their own autonomous cars to go driving around customers. Now Uber will have to look at maintenance aspect as well, and would be interesting to see how this could affect the Fares.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by agambhandari

Apart from the obvious difference in the way of cab driving(autonomous), I think this shows a big shift in the Uber's operations.

But it could also eliminate the weakest link in their business model, specially in the developing markets - that of the driver.

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

But it could also eliminate the weakest link in their business model, specially in the developing markets - that of the driver.

Definitely it would, and I'm all for that. But as you said,its most important in a market like India. But the self driving scene here is with the chaotic roads and idiot transport ministers. Worried about loss of employment, not the lives that they cost everyday.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

But it could also eliminate the weakest link in their business model, specially in the developing markets - that of the driver.

But that will cause Uber more worry than relief. The main reason why Uber has been able to bypass a lot of laws and regulations regarding transportation is stating that they are merely an aggregator and NOT the service provider.

They've been able to put off the massive protests from the NY taxi union which states that drivers working with Uber should be put through the same tests and licensing mandates (which run into tens of thousands of $) as they are, simply on this premise. Of course, autonomous driver won't have drivers at all but other aspects such as permits etc. can be a factor.

So, who will own these cars should be interesting.