Uber Drivers to Supervise Self-Driving Volvo SUVs in Pittsburgh

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Uber has announced that its drivers will be supervising self-driving Volvo SUVs in Pittsburgh.

Uber, VolvoThe self-driving cars used by Volvo will be the XC90. There will be 100 of these vehicles that Uber customers can start hailing for rides near the end of the month. The cars will be available for short trips inside the city and the Uber driver will be there in case anything goes wrong.

The partnership between Uber and Volvo will have it buying XC90 SUV’s from the car maker. Volvo will be behind the majority of the starting engineering the will go into the self-driving car. The two will work to continue developing the SUVs’ dynamic mapping, object identification and more, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The company’s agreement with Volvo is valued at $300 million deal. The technology could benefit Uber by allowing it to hire less drivers for its ride-hailing service. There’s also the possibility of Volvo selling the feature in future versions of its cars.

Uber and Volvo are currently planning to have their self-driving car efforts finished by 2021. The deal isn’t exclusive and Uber can work with other companies to develop self-driving cars.

The Volvo XC90 that the ride-hailing company will be using is equipped with sensors to help it navigate the city streets of Pittsburgh. This includes GPS, lasers, cameras and radar. Other companies are also working on their own self-driving car efforts, Bloomberg notes.

Tesla has been at the center of controversy lately over its Autopilot feature for the Model S, There have been a couple of wrecks while drivers used the service, with one resulting in the death of the driver. However, the company argues it isn’t meant to be a self-driving feature.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2016/08/uber-volvo/.

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