06 Volvo C70 Convertible, Retactable Hard Top, Navigation, Leather Interior on 2040-cars

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Volvo's electric XC90 SUV to include lidar as standard equipment next year

DETROIT — Volvo Cars plans to make lidar sensors standard equipment in a new generation of its XC90 SUV next year as part of a strategy to deploy more advanced safety and automated driving technology that relies on precise images of the world around the vehicle. The decision by Volvo Cars to fold lidar sensors into the base price of its vehicle is a bet that customers will pay for the additional capability. It has been called a "watershed moment" by some in the industry. The Swedish brand, owned by China's Geely group, is taking a sharply different road from rival Tesla Inc, which has shunned lidar and radar and is focusing on just cameras and software for its automated driving systems. Self-driving car sensor startup Luminar Technologies Inc will supply Volvo Cars with its Iris lidar and Sentinel software in combination with software from Volvo in the electric XC90 SUV that will be built in South Carolina and go on sale in 2022, the companies said. The new technologies are designed to address traffic situations that often result in severe injuries and fatalities. Over time, the technology will become more capable and will increasingly intervene to prevent collisions, the companies said. "By having this hardware as standard, we can continuously improve safety features over the air and introduce advanced autonomous drive systems," Volvo Cars Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement. Lidar sensors, which use laser light pulses to render precise images of the environment around the car, are seen as essential by many automakers to enable obstacle detection and avoidance in advanced driving assistance systems and eventually in fully automated vehicles. Complete sensor set on on electric successor to XC90 Until now, lidar has been too costly for automakers to implement as anything other than an option that costs extra. Luminar CEO Austin Russell said the pricing for its lidar is on the order of $1,000 per unit. Volvo Cars' chief technology officer, Henrik Green, said cost is not the focus for the Swedish auto brand. While the price of the technology will come down over time as volumes grow, the rollout will accelerate use of automated services that the company can charge for. Green said subsequent vehicles will add the lidar package as standard, and that this continues Volvo Cars' history of being first to standardize many safety features, including three-point seat belts and side-impact airbags.

2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback, Volvos earn IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

It's time for another round-up of recent IIHS crash tested cars. The trio this time include the 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback, 2019 Volvo XC90 and 2018 Volvo S90. All three have earned one of the highest ratings from the IIHS, the Top Safety Pick. And all three continue a trend of very safe cars having slightly below-par headlights, preventing them from earning the highest Top Safety Pick+ rating. Of these three cars, the Corolla Hatchback has the most impressive scores. It earned the highest "Good" rating in every single crash test, including the difficult small-overlap passenger-side collision. It also received the top score for access to LATCH anchors for child seats. The standard forward collision prevention technology also brought home the best score possible, stopping the car before a crash at speeds up to 25 mph. The headlights themselves weren't particularly bad either, earning the second-highest score of "Acceptable" with both the standard and optional LED headlights. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Both Volvos shared similar scores to the Corolla Hatchback, with "Good" ratings for all crash tests they participated in, and top rank for their standard forward collision technology. Both vehicles were not tested for the passenger-side small overlap collision, so there is no score in that area. Both also received the "Acceptable" rating for LATCH anchor access. In the headlight department, the XC90 earned "Acceptable" scores for both of its available headlights, and the S90 received an "Acceptable" for its optional lights, while the standard ones were rated as "Marginal." Related Video:

Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 and our new long-term Acura TLX | Autoblog Podcast #661

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. This week, they talk about the cars they've been driving, including the Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 and Audi A4, as well as the recently departed long-term Volvo S60 T8 and the new addition to the long-term fleet, an Acura TLX. In this week's news, they talk about the Stellantis merger completion, some more thoughts about GM at CES, BMW announcing an electric M car, an upcoming electric Lincoln Corsair and the possibility of an electric-only Ford Mustang in 2028. Autoblog Podcast #661 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown What we're driving:2021 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 2021 Audi A4 S Line 45 TFSI Quattro 2020 Volvo S60 T8 2021 Acura TLX A-Spec News:Stellantis is a thing now More thoughts on GM at CES BMW announces electric M car is coming this year Electric Lincoln Corsair-E coming in 2026, report says The next-gen Ford Mustang reportedly going all-electric, arriving in 2028 Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: