Volvo brings V2V to cars across Europe, offers safety research to everyone
Some older Volvo models can be retrofitted to make use of this tech.
Volvo has had vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) tech installed in some of its vehicles since 2016, but they were limited to Sweden and Norway. Now, everyone across Europe can take advantage of this tech, which could help more people avoid accidents.
Volvo announced Monday that it would expand its Hazard Light Alert and Slippery Road Alert systems to the rest of Europe. The systems will be standard on all 2020-model-year Volvos. Certain post-2016 vehicles on the SPA and CMA platforms will also have the ability to retrofit this tech.
Both systems rely on the cloud to enable V2V tech. When a driver turns on the hazard lights or encounters a slippery patch of road, the car will send that information to the cloud, and other drivers heading that way will be alerted to what's ahead. The idea is that, by giving out this information ahead of time, Volvo can better prepare its drivers, reducing the likelihood of a crash. It could even warn drivers of impending traffic jams, as European drivers generally engage the hazard lights when slowing to a stop on the freeway.
You'll have to pay extra to see the giant orange waves in the sky. (Just kidding, they're invisible.)
Since trucks cover just about every corner of the world's roads, Volvo expanded this tech to its Volvo Trucks marque, as well, allowing cars and trucks to share data that could improve safety for everyone. In its release touting the V2V expansion, Volvo once again invited other automakers to share anonymized data because a larger pool could make the roads that much safer.
Volvo also wants other automakers and researchers to make use of its own past research. In addition to expanding its V2V tech, Volvo announced Monday that it has opened a central digital library containing all its past safety research. The research stretches all the way back to the 1970s and covers up through 2018.
Volvo's safety measures cover other ground too. The automaker announced earlier this year that it intends to fit 112-mph speed limiters on all Volvos starting in the 2021 model year. Volvo also said it would begin fitting driver-monitoring cameras in certain models in the early 2020s that are capable of slowing and stopping a vehicle if a driver appears to be distracted or intoxicated.
