Volvo sends out 100 autonomous cars under normal driving conditions

*The project kicked-off with 100 autonomous Volvo vehicles driven by actual customers on normal road conditions around the city. There is approximately 50 kilometres of selected roads that are being utilized for these tests, but the drivers will have to deal with the regular traffic and congestion that comes there way, making it a true test. * Back in December, Volvo announced that they would be starting a ‘Drive Me’ project with the intent to place a number of autonomous Volvo cars on public roads. This is nothing new if you’ve followed autonomous car stories, as it seems like every automaker is investing in various self-driving projects and technologies. What’s different about Volvo’s ‘Drive Me’ project is that they’ve included legislators, transport authorities, customers and have the entire Swedish city of Gothenburg on-board for their tests. The project kicked-off with 100 autonomous Volvo vehicles driven by actual customers on normal road conditions around the city. Approximately 50 kilometres of selected roads are being utilized for these tests, but the drivers will have to deal with the regular traffic and congestion that comes there way, making it a true test. “The test cars are now able to handle lane following, speed adaption and merging traffic all by themselves,” said Erik Coelingh, Technical Specialist at Volvo Car Group. “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.” While driving and ready, these driving customers will press a button and set the car on Autopilot, allowing the driver to release the steering wheel and watch the vehicle take over the throttle, braking and handling. Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden and the home of Volvo, is now the first city to allow self-driving cars to be used under everyday driving conditions. If you live there, it would be an interesting day to take a closer look at these vehicles and ride along with them. I know I would. Volvo is expecting these autonomous cars to be available for sale by 2017. Below is a video for you to experience and understand more of Volvo’s ‘Drive Me’ program.