Volvo to use Waymo’s autonomous driving technology in taxis

Volvo Car Group and Waymo have signed an agreement for the use of Level 4 autonomous driving technology. Volvo is the first to deploy the technology in a new service for electric taxis.

Waymo says it will be Volvo’s exclusive L4 partner. By L4, Waymo refers to Level 4, an autonomous driving category that refers to a high degree of automation. In addition, the system can intervene itself if a person does not react to an unexpected traffic event. Level 5 is a step higher, where the system must be able to drive autonomously under all road and weather conditions. The classification was made by SAE, an association of technical companies in the automotive sector, among others.

The agreement covers not only Volvo’s own electric cars, but also those of Volvo Car Group’s subsidiary Polestar and Lynk & Co, which is affiliated to Volvo Cars through the umbrella Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. The companies do not disclose anything about the service of electric taxis that Volvo is working on. More car companies are working on such taxi services, including Daimler, Tesla and Hyundai. Waymo has already partnered with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Jaguar Land Rover and Renault Nissan Mitsubishi for autonomous driving.