Stockholm – Volvo Cars has confirmed that it will unveil its new battery-powered flagship SUV on November 9, and the Swedish carmaker has also revealed its name: EX90.
Volvo says its new SUV will be its safest product ever, thanks to what it describes as one of the most advanced sensor sets on the market. This package includes eight cameras, five radars, 16 ultrasonic sensors and a roof-mounted Lidar sensor.
The latter is said to be capable of detecting pedestrians up to 250 metres away, and even something that’s almost invisible, like a tyre on a black road surface, can be detected from a distance of up to 120 metres at highway speeds.
Although so-called drowsiness detection systems are nothing new, Volvo has created a more advanced “driver understanding system” for the EX90, which uses two cabin-mounted cameras. By observing and analysing the driver’s eye-gaze patterns, this system is able to detect some of the early signs that the driver is not focused on the road ahead.
The vehicle also has a capacitive steering wheel that can tell when the driver lets go, and if this and the eye-detection software detect that the driver is unconscious, the car can use its semi-autonomous driving tech to bring the vehicle to a stop on the side of the road.
“Ultimately, using these new sensor systems (inside and out), the vehicle will not only be able to step in and assist the driver, it will also have a better understanding of when it’s needed and how to assist in the best possible way,” Volvo said.
Volvo’s head of Safe Vehicle Automation, Joachim de Verdier, said research they’ve done so far has fused their understanding of the outside environment and driver attention.
“When all our safety systems, sensors, software and computing power come together, they create a preventative shield of safety around you – and you won’t even know it’s there until you need it,” De Verdier said.
That’s as much as Volvo is prepared to tell us about the new EX90 for now, but watch this space for all the official information in early November.
It’s widely reported that the Volvo EX90 will replace the current XC90 internal combustion model, although it’s not impossible that the latter might stick around for a little longer to smooth the transition to electric. There apparently won’t be a combustion version of the EX90.
Related video