Ride Pilot on the horizon

[volvo s60 2001]

Let's hope is going to work properly.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volvo/...l-new-xc90?amp

[Rocinante]

Call me cynical, but I think the self driving is a few years away yet, and this announcement is partly just to create press for the new "XC90" or whatever it's going to be called.

"Volvo stresses that it will launch Ride Pilot only once it has verified its safety through extensive testing, and after securing the required approvals."

The actual car is launching later this year, and believe it will have the hardware to self drive (much like current Teslas), but I would suspect the actual self drive release to the public, will be a while off.

Perhaps I'm just pessimistic. I'm not one of those people who is against self driving cars, and thinks all the cars are going to crash in to each other once they are put in to use. I think it will have been exhaustively tested before being given to the public, but it just seems to be one of those things that is continually just round the corner, due to complexity of the task you're asking it to do.

[Lexman8]

A friend of mine has an XC90 R-Design T8 and a Tesla Model 3 High Performance, both less than 1 year old. His Tesla has the upgraded Autopilot.

He likes both cars equally and despite all the hype surrounding Tesla's Autopilot he actually prefers Volvo's Pilot Assist. The main problem with Autopilot is phantom braking at speed, even on a quiet road with little or no traffic around. He says it's quite scary and half expects to be rear-ended every time.

I reckon true self driving is years away (and I certainly wouldn't pay $10,000 for it now given its current state).

[Clan]

Originally Posted by volvo s60 2001

Let's hope is going to work properly.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volvo/...l-new-xc90?amp

The first self driving car tests in the UK were done in the last few days . The plan is to send a hire car out to a customers house driving it manually by remote control from the base. Intervening if necessary I assume .

[Rocinante]

Having had a nosey on the internet, the self driving cars might be closer than I thought.

"Waymo operates a commercial self-driving taxi service in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area called "Waymo One", with Chandler, Arizona fully mapped. In October 2020, the company expanded the service to the public, and it is the only self-driving commercial service that operates without safety backup drivers in the vehicle"

They are actually out there already.

The item of note is that it states "with Chandler, Arizona fully mapped". Does this imply an area needs to be 'fully mapped' (whatever that means) before the cars can drive the area ?

"In July 2020, the company announced an exclusive partnership with auto manufacturer Volvo to integrate Waymo's self-driving technology into Volvo's vehicles."