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Volvo demos autonomous self-parking car concept

A number of companies are developing autonomous vehicle technology - Google and Audi come to mind - but Volvo is applying its work in the area to a particular usage case: parking. The Swedish automaker has the technology up and running in a concept vehicle, which it says can be dropped off at the curb by its owner and left to its own devices to enter and navigate a car park, then find and park in an available parking spot. Volvo says the process can even be reversed when the owner is ready to go, with the car leaving the car park on its own to meet its key-holder again at the curb.
The vehicle first interacts with Vehicle 2 Infrastructure technology, which places transmitters in the road itself to inform the car (and driver) if the self-parking service is available. The driver then hops out, activates the Self Parking function on his or her smartphone and then leaves the car to do its work. The car uses sensors, all seemingly hidden from view (an advancement of its own in this field), to autonomously navigate the car park, which includes interacting and adjusting to other cars, people and objects.
The technology used here builds off of Volvo's other work in autonomous vehicle research, namely the Safe Road Trains for the Environment (SARTRE) project in which the company managed to create a train of four cars autonomously following a lead truck at speeds up 56 miles per hour. Volvo says the first application of its autonomous research in a production vehicle will happen at the end of 2014 with some level of autonomous steering available in the next-generation XC90. See the system in action by watching the video below.

Volvo sets high carbon price to assess sustainability of new projects

GLASGOW — Swedish automaker Volvo said on Wednesday it had set a price on carbon emissions from its operations of 1,000 Swedish crowns ($116.30) a tonne, part of attempts to ensure all future projects are sustainable. Announcing the move at global climate talks in Scotland as it joined an imitative to phase out fossil fuel cars and vans, the company said it had deliberately set a relatively high price to "future proof" itself. Negotiators at the COP26 talks are trying to finish rules to create an international carbon market. Put simply, it would allow some countries to pay others to cut emissions — with the aim of pushing much-needed cash into green projects around the world. Volvo said it was the first automaker to set such a price across its whole operations, as part of its aim to be a climate neutral company by 2040. The price is double the current cost of carbon in the European Union's carbon trading scheme. Going forward, every new car project would go through a "sustainability sense-check", with a carbon price assigned throughout the life of the vehicle, to ensure it would be profitable even under a much higher government-set price. “A global and fair price on CO2 is critical for the world to meet its climate ambitions, and we all need to do more,” Bjorn Annwall, chief financial officer, said in a statement. “We strongly believe progressive companies should take the lead by setting an internal carbon price. By evaluating future cars on their CO2-adjusted profitability, we expect to accelerate actions that will help us identify and reduce carbon emissions already today.” Also on Wednesday, Volvo signed up to the Glasgow Declaration on Zero Emission Cars and Vans, along with peers including Ford and General Motors, aiming to end production of internal combustion engines by 2040. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Sweden's Prince Carl Philip to race for Volvo in STCC

Prince Carl Philip Bernadotte has it good. He is a member of the Swedish Royal Family, he dates a model and he has been voted by Forbes as one of the "20 Hottest Young Royals." If that were not enough, he is a fairly successful racecar driver. The latter has earned him a spot on the Volvo Polestar racing team for the Swedish Touring Car Championship. The prince will be piloting a race-spec S60 in the 2013 STCC campaign.
Starting in 2008, Prince Carl Philip began competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup, where he placed as high as 11th. In 2010, he finished first in the Porsche GT3 Endurance competition, and most recently, he placed fourth in the 2012 Swedish GT GTB.
As his motorsport career up to this point suggests, the prince is quite serious about racing and the STCC is the next step up. According to Prince Carl Philip, "There is no tougher championship in Sweden and at the same time as I have respect for it, it motivates me greatly." You can read more on Prince Carl Philip's upcoming campaign with Polestar in the press release below.