Uber Technologies Inc unveil its newest Volvo self-driving car in limited areas as it works to eventually deploy vehicles without drivers under some limited conditions.
Uber said the new production XC90 will be assembled by Volvo Cars in Sweden and have human controls like steering wheels and brake pedals, but added it has factory-installed steering and braking systems designed for computer rather than human control.
The new vehicles known by the internal code number 519G and under development for several years are safer, more reliable and will “soon” replace the older vehicles in Uber’s fleet, said Eric Meyhofer, the head of Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group.
The new XC90 vehicles have an interior fish-eye camera to scan for lost items, Uber said. They also do not have sunroofs since the self-driving vehicles have large sensors on the roof and are equipped with auto-close doors to prevent an unsafe departure.
Volvo Cars Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement that “by the middle of the next decade we expect one-third of all cars we sell to be fully autonomous”.