Polestar's electric SUV will drive itself on the highway eventually

Date:
Tue, 07 Jun 2022 15:27:55 +0000

Description:
Polestar has teased its upcoming all-electric SUV, the Polestar 3.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Volvo subsidiary Polestar has teased the arrival of its first electric SUV, the Polestar 3 and by the sounds of things, it could break new ground for self-driving technology.

Set to be officially unveiled in October before rolling out to customers in early 2023, the Polestar 3 will aim to rival the Tesla Model X , Audi e-tron
, and Mercedes EQS SUV in the range and performance departments, but the car will also feature a potentially market-leading autonomous highway driving system.

Powered by a "best-in-class LiDAR sensor" and "centralized NVIDIA computing power," the premium SUV will benefit from the same self-driving technology as Volvo's next XC90 SUV to offer drivers the ability to cruise at high speed with almost no human input. However, the feature will arrive "over time" and be the subject of constant over-the-air updates, as highway infrastructure
and transport legislation play catch-up.

In a 2020 interview with The Verge , Volvos chief technology officer, Henrik Green, elaborated on this so-called Ride Pilot system, saying that cars
fitted with the then-in-development software wouldnt require the same level
of attention as other vehicles already claiming to support self-driving functionality.

Green cited Teslas Autopilot and Cadillacs Super Cruise feature as examples
of systems that still require drivers to "stay in the loop" should they need to regain control of their vehicles. The 2022 XC90 SUV (and therefore the Polestar 3), he said at the time, will instead use an advanced LiDAR sensor
to eliminate the need for intervention.

"Soon, your Volvo will be able to drive autonomously on highways when the car determines it is safe to do so," Green said in a press release announcing Volvos partnership with LiDAR manufacturer Luminar. "At that point, your
Volvo takes responsibility for the driving and you can relax, take your eyes off the road and your hands off the wheel." The Polestar 3 interior appears similar to that of the Polestar 2 (Image credit: Polestar)

That all sounds great in principle, and Volvos commitment to hyper-accurate LiDAR sensors over camera-based scanning systems (of the sort favored by Elon Musks automaker) suggests the Polestar 3 and new Volvo XC90 may genuinely
make good on their self-driving promise.

In practice, though, drivers ability to use Volvos Ride Pilot system will depend on the viability of the highways themselves and its unlikely that the brands autonomous software will better Teslas equivalent straight out of the box.

Volvo itself has also admitted that the road to total vehicular autonomy will be a gradual one, with over-the-air updates set to be provided to its
upcoming vehicles that will "expand the areas in which [these cars] can drive [themselves]."

In reality, then, a truly self-driving Polestar 3 is several years away but it's undoubtedly promising to see another major carmaker preparing its vehicles for an autonomous future.

As mentioned, the Polestar 3 is scheduled to begin hitting roads at the beginning of next year, though the company also has another SUV, the Polestar 4, and a sports sedan, the Polestar 5, in the pipeline for 2023 and 2024, respectively. Well share more details on all three models as and when theyre officially unveiled.



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/polestars-electric-suv-will-drive-itself-on-the -highway-eventually/


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)