Volvo reveals new operating system and other tech tricks for upcoming EVs

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Volvo held a “Tech Moment” today to digitally introduce some of the systems and partnerships it has been developing to drive the brand’s upcoming electric vehicles. 

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In a flurry of press releases meant to provide a “technology roadmap,” the Swedish brand revealed plans to bring all software development in house, showcased its new operating system known as VolvoCars.OS, outlined how it expects to use real-time data to improve safety and provide a potential shortcut to automation, and name-dropped Google, with which it has been collaborating on a new “connected user experience.”

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Obviously, Volvo is committing to a tech-forward approach in its plans to serve the burgeoning premium electric vehicle segment. One of the ways the brand hopes to reach its electrification goals is by streamlining product development processes such as software development. To that end, it will be running its own OS in all EVs moving forward, streamlining the company’s multiple systems into one catchall program.  

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Run from a new core computing system, the system will communicate vehicle data to developers, allowing them to make adjustments that can be rolled out via over-the-air (OTA) updates.  

“By developing software in-house we can boost development speeds and improve your Volvo faster than we can today,” said Henrik Green, chief technology officer. “Just like on your smartphone or computer, new software and features can be rolled out swiftly through over-the-air updates, making your Volvo better and even more enjoyable over time.”

The new software setup will also serve to help Volvo do what Volvo does best: make really safe vehicles. With driver permission, the brand will be able to receive and process data captured by a vehicle’s sensors, including the nifty all-seeing LiDAR , and use it to make further safety improvements. This could also hasten the arrival of the fully autonomous electric Volvo by providing crucial feedback to those working on that program. 

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“With help from real-life data we can speed up our development processes and go from years to days,” said Ödgärd Andersson, CEO at Zenseact, Volvo Cars’ autonomous driving software arm. “As real-time collection generates a lot more data, we can create better and higher-quality data sets that allow us to make better and quicker decisions on the next advancements in safety. We’re taking a giant leap to increase safety in and around our cars.”

Volvo linked up with Google to help bring a fresh perspective to the technology its new EV drivers will be able to actually reach out and touch. There’s a new high-res driver information screen in the middle of the wheel that displays the vitals like battery level and speed; a head-up display projected on the windscreen in front of the driver; and a large, vertically oriented centre screen for rich content, which looks typical in an EV at this point. 

For now, we have these renderings to visualize all of these tech additions, but it won’t be long before there’s a real-life example on roads. Remember, they’ve circled 2030 on their calendar as the year they expect to be selling EVs exclusively.

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