New all-electric Volvo EX90 will be the marque's safest car yet

Volvo Cars has announced its upcoming all-electric SUV will be called the EX90 and promises the model will be the safest Volvo yet.

The EX90 will replace the XC90 as the Swedish brand’s flagship car and will have standard safety equipment that goes beyond that of any Volvo before it, says CEO Jim Rowan.

“Our aim is to help you be a better driver and reduce the risk of a crash. The Volvo EX90 comes with an invisible shield of safety that includes our latest sensing technology, allowing the car to understand your state of mind and the world around you.”

The technology allows the EX90 to see when a driver is distracted, tired or otherwise inattentive.

“It will alert you, first softly nudging, then more insistent if needed. And if the unthinkable happens and you fall asleep or are taken ill while driving, the EX90 is designed to safely stop and call for help.”

The EX90 will boast one of the most advanced sensor sets on the market with eight cameras, five radars, 16 ultrasonic sensors and a cutting-edge Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor. These will combine to give the car an unprecedented number of “eyes” on the road to move a step closer to Volvo’s vision of a future with zero collisions.

Volvo Cars head of safe vehicle automation Joachim de Verdier said: “We believe the EX90 to be the safest Volvo car to ever hit the road.

“We are fusing our understanding of the outside environment with our more detailed understanding of driver attention. When all our safety systems, sensors, software and computing power come together, they create a preventive shield of safety around you — and you won’t even know it’s there until you need it.”

Embedded in the EX90’s roofline, the LiDAR sensor can detect pedestrians up to 250m away and something as small and dark as a tyre on a black road 120m ahead — all while travelling at highway speeds.

The new “driver understanding system” uses two cameras in the cabin to observe the driver’s eye-gaze patterns and pick up early signals that indicate the driver may not be at their best. By measuring how much of the time the driver looks at the road ahead (allowing for natural variations), it understands when the driver’s eyes, and perhaps therefore mind, are focused somewhere other than on driving.

The capacitive steering wheel senses if the driver lets go of the wheel and monitors the stability of the steering input. The car will take appropriate action to help the driver when needed, from sounding a simple warning signal to safely stopping at the side of the road, alerting other road users with its hazard lights.

Using these new sensor systems, the vehicle will not only be able to step in and assist the driver, it will also have a better understanding of when it’s needed and how to assist in the best possible way.

More details of Volvo’s new all-electric flagship EX90 will be released in the coming weeks before the global reveal on November 9.

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