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.
From an article in Reuters by Ben Klayman.
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.
Self-driving car sensor startup Luminar Technologies Inc (LAZR.O) 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.
“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.
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.
“This is kind of a watershed moment for the industry,” Russell said in an interview. “You don’t have an option package for airbags. You don’t have an option package for seatbelts. Why should you have an option package for life-saving technology?”
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