Walking through the Volvo Cars Pioneers in Safety installation at WIRED’s Big Interview event is tantamount to perusing the greatest hits of innovation in automotive safety. Starting with inventing the three-point safety belt in 1959 and then, in the apex of open-source thinking, waiving their patent rights, Volvo Cars has built a legacy of safety through engineering and indefatigable data collection. For instance, the development of its Whiplash Injury Protection System (WHIPS) and Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) were informed by Volvo Cars researchers analyzing crash sites to better inform their vehicle designs. And since the 1970s, the Volvo Cars safety research team has analyzed data from more than 50,000 vehicles involved in real-world traffic accidents.
The knowledge gained from this data has led to the development of innovations that many drivers now take entirely for granted—from rear-facing child seats (1972) and blind spot monitoring (launched in 2003), to automatic emergency braking (2008) and a myriad of sensors meant to make passengers and pedestrians safer. In his conversation with WIRED deputy global editorial director Greg Williams, Volvo Cars’ Chief Engineering and Technology Officer Anders Bell, made it clear that, for Volvo Cars, technology isn’t just about bells and whistles—it’s about saving lives and elevating quality of life.
Safety Is in Volvo Cars’ DNA
Volvo Cars’ priorities have been rooted in safety since the company’s founding 97 years ago. “The founders said that cars are designed to be driven by people, so therefore everything we do must be based on safety first and foremost. It's very much in the DNA of the company,” said Bell. “The technologies and improvements that we launch are part of a relentless progress, a relentlessness of always trying to do better and also being constantly curious about what goes on in the world out there.”
The latest development in the quest toward safety and understanding of vehicles’ real-world performance has seen Volvo Cars undergoing a full technological transformation starting with the EX90 (which is already on the road). Per Bell, all battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) from Volvo Cars going forward will be “software-defined vehicles,” built on an entirely new tech stack that keeps the driver in control, but steps in when necessary. Software-defined vehicles (or SDVs) are cars that use a series of sensors, computers, and drive-by-wire systems to manage their functions and features, rather than relying entirely on mechanical and hardware components.
According to Bell, SDVs hold a particularly transformational power for Volvo Cars: the ability to further raise the bar on safety. “With the introduction of the software-defined vehicle, we have real-world, real-time insights into what goes on out there in real traffic situations. We're going to equip ourselves with a superpower of insights—fully understanding and comprehending what happens in the world—and with over-the-air updates, we can write back new instructions to respond even better next time and be more granular in our response.”
Real-time collection and analysis of driving data is powered in part by NVIDIA DRIVE systems-on-a-chip (SoC) in a centralized core compute system. Volvo Cars then ingests that data and, thanks to its AI supercomputer, Oden—one of the largest in Europe—they can accelerate the speed in which data is contextualized to train future safety models and inform updates to driving dynamics, such as emergency braking or lane keeping systems. For example, if a vehicle is involved in an accident, Volvo Cars can analyze the involved vehicle’s telemetry data, see how each system performed, and build out optimized responses.
Modular Modalities
This example of closed-loop engineering has been made possible thanks to the speed of AI data analysis and efficient workstreams of an all-new tech stack, enabling Volvo Cars to continuously improve safety and driving dynamics, delivering valuable information via 5G over-the-air (OTA) updates. “We are primarily investing in AI where it matters the most, which is to save lives,” said Bell. “We cannot have any other target than zero accidents, right? So we're using AI to accelerate faster towards zero.”
These daily data downloads don’t end with the EX90. Volvo Cars’ technological transformation is built upon its all-new Superset tech stack, a modular engineering platform that allows Volvo Cars to make software and engineering updates to one core set of systems that can then be customized for individual vehicles and use cases, starting with the EX90. But when your product is a two-and-a-half ton moving object, this critical change to its operating structure is no easy task; in the end, they are able to have multiple teams working in parallel to streamline a highly complex product built with several different layers of safety atop it. “The EX90 sitting outside is the first car out on our new Superset tech stack where all the technologies, all the cars will be built on going forward. It's been a fascinating journey so far.”
Tying It All Together With the EX90 Installation
Following the panel, guests were invited to experience the all-new EX90 at the entrance to the event venue. While many EVs hitting the market have gone “full futurism” in their design, the Volvo EX90 looks like, well, an especially handsome Volvo. The company has always imbued their vehicles with a stylish Scandinavian design peppered with advanced safety tech, and the EX90 is no different. In this case, the only hint to the vehicle’s next-gen safety cred is the subtle inclusion of sensors around the car. And for Volvo Cars, that’s the future.
Recalling a statement from Bell, one of the key areas they are exploring for the future is avoidance technology as well as the application of AI and advanced sensors that can prevent accidents before they occur. “Cars are driven by people currently, and people are imperfect by nature. So our approach is not to be in a dash to get the first to [autonomy] level X, Y and Z. Our approach is really—through safe automation—continuously work towards zero collisions." For Volvo Cars, the journey to autonomy is one of incremental improvement, something the company has specialized in for nearly a hundred years.
Under the hood, the EX90’s computing system is built on an NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin SoC, making the vehicle capable of more than 250 trillions of operations per second (TOPS). This core compute system orchestrates everything in the car: from powering the deep learning capabilities underpinning its AI-based active safety and driving assistance systems, to delivering customer experiences and preparing the car for continuous improvement. Down the road, Volvo Cars also plans to introduce cars built on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor, which is capable of up to 1,000 TOPs. That’s four times as many operations per second as one DRIVE Orin SoC, while offering seven times greater energy efficiency.
One such experience is the driver UX, which is designed to make complexity simple so operators can focus on the right things at the right time. This encourages drivers to be more present and focused, and creates a feeling of safety and the sense that the driver is being considered while they’re on the road. The quiet cabin, comfortable seating positions, and advanced air purification system all subtly hint to the advanced tech creating the mobiles sanctuary within the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The hope is that drivers enable the vehicle’s advanced driver assistance systems whenever they’re on the road, enhancing their driving experience and improving that Superset tech stack. “It's most important [for Volvo Cars] to create systems that are convenient to use, so that you love activating your Pilot Assist when you're driving,” said Bell.
And those trips can take you far. Depending on the final vehicle configuration, the EX90 has an EPA-certified electric driving range of up to 310 miles, and can charge from 10 percent to 80 percent in 30 minutes on a 250 kW DC fast charger. Once parked at home, Volvo Cars offers a full suite of energy storage and charging-related technologies and services, creating a holistic ownership experience that encourages efficient use of energy—benefiting society at large.
Eyes Ahead to the Future
The display and discussion make it clear that Volvo Cars views technology—whether that’s safety tech, autonomy, back-end development and systems architecture—through a human-centric lens. “It’s really that system-level where the big innovations will continue to happen. The ability to connect endlessly to the car, which used to be this isolated object roaming around the world, taking up 20, 25 percent of public space, can become something useful, and can help better our cities and the planet,” he said.
“The car becomes a resource,” Bell continued. “We have both compute and energy [systems] on board, which… with the ability to communicate, turn on and off, give back energy to the grid—there are so many things we can do which are currently untapped with software-defined vehicles.”
To learn more about the all-new EX90 and the rest of Volvo’s EV and safety initiatives, visit VolvoCars.com.
