Volvo Expands Connected Safety to Detect Large Animals, Vulnerable Road Users and Accidents

• Four new alerts can warn drivers about large animals, vulnerable road users, roadwork and accidents ahead.
• The new connected safety features will be available on the Volvo EX60, EX90 and ES90 in Europe, the United States and Canada.
• The Volvo EX90 equipped with the Bowers & Wilkins audio system now supports Spatial Audio through Apple CarPlay and Dolby Atmos.

Volvo Expands Its Connected Safety System

Volvo continues to develop its safety technologies by increasingly relying on data shared between vehicles. The Swedish automaker is introducing four new connected safety features designed to warn drivers about potential hazards before they are even directly visible.

Connected safety technology itself is nothing new for Volvo. First introduced in 2016, the system allows compatible vehicles to share certain information in real time to warn other drivers travelling nearby.

The latest software update significantly expands the number of situations that can be reported.

The first new feature focuses on large animals. In Canada, a country where large animals such as deer and moose are common, this could prove particularly useful. When a vehicle detects a large animal on or near the road, that information can be transmitted to other vehicles approaching the area.

A second alert focuses on vulnerable road users. The system can warn drivers when a pedestrian or cyclist is detected on or near a highway.

Volvo is also adding a roadwork alert. When a construction zone is detected, approaching vehicles can receive an advance warning, giving drivers additional time to reduce their speed or adjust their driving accordingly.

Finally, a new feature called Accident Ahead Alert can warn drivers about a collision farther along their route. The information can come from other connected Volvo vehicles as well as traffic management centres.

Warnings Before Drivers Can See the Danger

The primary objective of these features is to give drivers more time to react.

This approach could be particularly useful when visibility is limited, such as around a curve, during poor weather conditions or when an obstacle prevents drivers from seeing what is happening farther down the road.

The four new functions complement connected safety technologies already offered by Volvo, including Slippery Road Alert and Hazard Light Alert. In the latter case, a vehicle can warn nearby Volvo drivers when its hazard lights have been activated.

According to the automaker, more than one million Volvo vehicles worldwide currently have its connected safety technologies activated.

“Every time a Volvo car shares safety intelligence, it helps other drivers prepare earlier to avoid accidents and feel safer,” said Åsa Haglund, head of the Volvo Cars Safety Centre.

Safety Data That Could Also Benefit Other Brands

The ecosystem is not necessarily limited to Volvo vehicles.

Through Europe’s Data for Road Safety initiative, some information can also be shared with vehicles from other manufacturers as well as national traffic management centres. Obviously, North America is still a long way from achieving this level of integration.

The approach essentially turns every connected vehicle into a mobile sensor capable of contributing to a real-time picture of hazards across the road network.

For Volvo, this represents a logical extension of its longstanding approach to safety. Rather than limiting protection systems to an individual vehicle, connected cars can communicate with one another to anticipate potentially dangerous situations before drivers encounter them.

Apple CarPlay Gains Spatial Audio in the Volvo EX90

The Volvo EX90 also gains Spatial Audio support through Apple CarPlay with Dolby Atmos technology.

The feature is reserved for vehicles equipped with the premium Bowers & Wilkins audio system, which uses 25 speakers positioned throughout the EX90’s cabin.

Spatial Audio is designed to create a three-dimensional soundstage in which vocals, instruments and other audio effects can appear to originate from different locations around the occupants.

The technology can be used with various types of compatible content, including music, live concert recordings and podcasts.