Volvo Testing Self-Driving Cars on Public Roads

Luke Vandezande
by Luke Vandezande

If you happen to be in Gothenburg, Sweden there’s a chance you’ll see a self-driving Volvo vehicle.

Volvo announced today that it is testing self-driving cars on public roads there in a project called “Drive Me.” The company plans to name its self-driving technology “Autopilot.”

“The test cars are now able to handle lane following, speed adaption and merging traffic all by themselves,” Volvo technical specialist Erik Coelingh said.

Autonomous vehicle testing on public roads is nothing new. Nevada, California, Florida and the District of Columbia all allow companies to conduct self-driving vehicle research in normal traffic. Nevada as the first give a green light in 2012.

But Volvo’s tests differ from what other companies like Google are doing. The Swedish automaker is putting its customers behind the wheel of the 100-vehicle fleet. Participants will drive the cars on approximately 50 kilometers of selected roads around Gothenburg that Volvo says will give an accurate representation of being in commuter traffic ranging from highways to stop-and-go traffic.

Discuss this story at our Volvo forum

Luke Vandezande
Luke Vandezande

Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.

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