Volvo Cars has announced a large-scale autonomous driving pilot project in which 100 self-driving Volvo cars will use public roads around the Swedish city of Gothenburg. The first cars are expected to be on the roads in Gothenburg by 2017.

The project ‘Drive Me – Self-driving cars for sustainable mobility’ is a joint initiative between Volvo Car Group, the Swedish Transport Administration, the Swedish Transport Agency, Lindholmen Science Park and the City of Gothenburg.

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“Autonomous vehicles are an integrated part of Volvo Cars’ as well as the Swedish government’s vision of zero traffic fatalities. This public pilot represents an important step towards this goal,” says Håkan Samuelsson, President and CEO of Volvo Car Group. “It will give us an insight into the technological challenges at the same time as we get valuable feedback from real customers driving on public roads.”

The pilot will involve self-driving cars using approximately 50 kilometres of selected roads in and around Gothenburg. These roads are described by Volvo as “typical commuter arteries and include motorway conditions and frequent queues.”

“Our aim is for the car to be able to handle all possible traffic scenarios by itself, including leaving the traffic flow and finding a safe ‘harbour’ if the driver for any reason is unable to regain control,” said Erik Coelingh, Technical Specialist at Volvo Car Group.

The project will commence in 2014 with customer research and technology development, as well as the development of a user interface and cloud functionality. The first cars are expected to be on the roads in Gothenburg by 2017.

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The project also includes fully automated parking without the driver. The aim is for a system that allows the driver to walk away from the car with the vehicle able to find a parking spot and park itself.