Volvo trail new delivery system to your car
The carmaker wants to allow retailers to drop off merchandise right inside your parked car. “Many people work or lead hectic lifestyles,” says Klas Bendrik, chief information officer at Volvo Car Group. “Deliveries to the car would save time and money.” Not to mention unnecessary stress and disappointment.
Volvo recently tested a service called Roam Delivery that would provide delivery companies with the location of your Volvo and a one-time digital key to open the car and leave packages inside. According to Bendrik, the service may become commercially available within the next two years, at least in Sweden.
Shoppers would receive a message before their packages are shipped asking whether they will accept car delivery. If they say yes, Volvo sends a digital key to the delivery company. The key shows the location of the car on a map and provides GPS coordinates, as well as information like the car’s colour, make, and licence plate number.
Once on location, the delivery person presses a button on a smartphone or tablet and Volvo unlocks the car via its On Call technology. Afterward the car relocks and sends the owner confirmation that the delivery is complete.
Volvo’s pilot study, which took place in Sweden, was performed in collaboration with an online grocery retailer and a third-party delivery service, but Bendrik says the car company is already in talks with major players in several countries.
“Big delivery companies of course need to be involved to make these types of delivery services available on a larger scale,” he says. In some regions, “transportation companies are eager,” he adds, while others have preferred to wait for the concept to “mature a bit more.”
Volvo also needs to hammer out details regarding safety and insurance. The service may not be workable in some cities where leaving anything in your car could lead to a smashed window.
In general, Bendrik notes that the service is better for low-value items such as food or even dry cleaning. “Safety has always been a big concern at Volvo,” he says.
Meanwhile, the company has begun testing its self-driving cars on public roads in what it hopes will be the world’s first large-scale fleet of autonomous vehicles. The driverless cars were tested by Volvo on roads around Gothenburg, Sweden, as part of the company’s Drive Me project, which was announced last December.
“The test cars are now able to handle lane following, speed adaption, and merging traffic all by themselves,” said Erik Coelingh, a technical specialist at Volvo. “This is an important step towards our aim that the final Drive Me cars will be able to drive the whole test route in highly autonomous mode.”
The technology, referred to by Volvo as Autopilot, allows drivers to hand over all driving functions to the onboard computer. Similar technology is currently being developed by other car manufacturers, including Nissan, Ford, and Tesla.
Volvo’s own plans involve the introduction of 100 autonomous cars on a 50-kilometre route in Gothenburg by 2017, with the hope that the introduction of such vehicles will help improve road safety and reduce congestion.
“That Volvo Cars’ hometown of Gothenburg becomes the world’s first arena for self-driving cars in everyday driving conditions demonstrates both our technological leadership and Sweden’s dedication to pioneering the integration of self-driving vehicles,” Coelingh said.
“This public pilot will provide us with a valuable insight into the societal benefits of making autonomous vehicles a natural part of the traffic environment.”
