Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

Uber and Volvo take on Ford in race to launch self-driving vehicles

Automated trucks and – gasp! – SUVs could be here in five years' time

Volvo and Uber are taking on Ford to usher in the next decade with a fleet of self-driving vehicles.

The VC-funded ride-sharing service has bought Silicon Valley self-driving vehicle technology start up Ottomotto LLC. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Under the deal, Otto’s co-founder Anthony Levandowski will head Uber’s self-driving work in personal transportation, delivery and trucking at centres in San Francisco, Palo Alto and Pittsburgh reporting to Uber CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick.

A partnership between Uber and Volvo was also announced, with Uber employing the Swedish car manufacturer's vehicles and safety technology.

The deal with Volvo is worth a reported $300m and will see Volvo develop a self-driving platform for its XC90 that both companies will separately employ.

The plan is for self-driving vehicles to launch by 2021.

The news came as Ford announced its tearing up its current plan on self-driving vehicles and embracing a big-bang approach.

The car company has pledged to mass-produce “fully autonomous vehicles in commercial operation for a ride-hailing or ride-sharing service beginning in 2021.”

In a blog post, here, Ford’s CEO and president Mark Fields said his firm is breaking with the car-maker pack.

“We abandoned a stepping-stone approach and created a dedicated 'top down' engineering program to deliver fully autonomous vehicles and the new mobility solutions and business opportunities that a fully autonomous vehicle could deliver,” he said. ®

Similar topics

Similar topics

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like