Volvo plans automated driving for future cars built on Nvidia Hyperion, Halos and Alpamayo

Volvo Cars announced on October 15 that it is widening its long-running partnership with Nvidia to develop automated driving for its future vehicles. According to the announcement, Volvo will pair its own vehicle safety systems and engineering with three Nvidia components: the Hyperion sensor and compute architecture, the Halos OS safety layer and the Alpamayo driving software. The companies said the technology is intended to let cars handle trips from door to door, covering highways, crowded city streets and parking. No vehicle with the system is on sale yet.

The system is set to debut in an unnamed next-generation Volvo that belongs to what the carmaker describes as its largest-ever product push. According to Technology.org, the first version will offer supervised driving, meaning the driver stays responsible for the car, and Volvo intends to add hands-free operation in cities and on highways in stages before 2030. Volvo and Nvidia say eyes-off and mind-off driving will be phased in over time. Alwin Bakkenes, who heads software engineering at Volvo Cars, told The Verge only that the launch would come "before the end of the decade", and the company has named neither the first model nor a date.

The Verge reported that Volvo classifies the point-to-point system as Level 2++, which the outlet said means it can manage traffic signals, stop signs and unprotected left turns without the driver explicitly in control, and compared it with Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised). Ali Kani, who leads Nvidia's automotive business, told the publication it would also resemble the Nvidia-powered system Mercedes-Benz recently introduced on the new CLA. According to The Verge, the initial setup will not use lidar, although Volvo could add the sensor later. Volvo also plans to contribute its driver-understanding systems and connected safety technology that lets vehicles share hazard information such as roadworks, the outlet reported.

The Verge presented the deal as an effort to recover from earlier setbacks. It reported that Volvo effectively sidelined its Ride Pilot Level 3 unsupervised system in the US after failing to win regulatory approval, and that a plan to fit lidar to some models was dropped after its supplier Luminar went bankrupt. Technology.org reported that Volvo will launch the features in several regions at once but not in China, even though the carmaker is majority-owned by China's Geely. A pricing model has not been chosen, but Bakkenes said the features will not be reserved for expensive cars, and the system will also extend beyond Volvo's battery-electric range, according to that outlet.

In the announcement, Volvo chief executive Håkan Samuelsson said the combination of safety knowledge and AI technology offers a chance to build "safer and more attractive cars". Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said the partners aim to build cars that make driving "safer and more effortless". Kani was quoted by Technology.org as saying Nvidia believes working with Volvo will make its stack safer, and told The Verge that point-to-point driving may prove more commercially valuable than assistance limited to highways. The companies have collaborated since 2017. The safety and capability goals described so far are company statements about a system that has not yet shipped.