Volvo announced plans to roll out an autonomous driving service called Ride Pilot to customers in California, United States. The autopilot feature will make its debut in a fully electric SUV which will replace the brand’s large SUV XC90. It is expected to go sale before the year ends.

Ride Pilot feature is developed by Volvo engineers in collaboration with the self-driving software developer Zenseact and the LiDAR technology company Luminar. Volvo will offer this promising feature as a subscription for its customers in California sometime this year.

The autonomous tech that will be offered by the Swedish automaker will meet the requirements of industry standards for level 3 autonomous driving. The drivers who use the service won’t need to keep their hands on the steering wheel or keep their eyes on the road, confirmed by Volvo’s Chief Technology Officer Henrik Green on Wednesday at the CES 2022.

Electric XC90 coming with Ride Pilot autonomous driving

Volvo’s upcoming electric SUV that features Ride Pilot will have a sensor suite of Luminar’s Iris LiDAR solution, eight cameras, 16 ultrasonic sensors, and five radars. That vehicle is going to replace the existing ICE model called Volvo XC90. It will be a full-size SUV, unlike smaller all-electric Volvos such as XC40 Recharge, and C40 Recharge. 

The autonomous driving service will be offered as a subscription for the yet-to-be-named electric XC90. Customers will pay monthly or annually for the autopilot feature. Volvo probably won’t offer a lump sum payment for the Ride Pilot, unlike Tesla’s $10,000 FSD (Full Self Driving) package.