It consists of autonomous electric commercial vehicles that can contribute to more efficient, safer and cleaner transportation.
Volvo’s long-term goal is to offer companies that need continuous transport services between fixed hubs a complement to today’s offerings. Volvo Trucks' future transport solution is intended to be used for regular and repetitive tasks characterised by relatively short distances, large volumes of goods and high delivery precision. Transports between logistic hubs are typical examples, but additional use cases can also be applicable. Because autonomous vehicles with no exhaust emissions and low noise are used, their operation can take place at any time of day or night. The solution utilises existing road infrastructure and load carriers, making it easier to recoup costs and allowing for integration with existing operations.
The operation is handled by autonomous electric vehicles linked to a cloud service and a transport control centre. The vehicles are equipped with sophisticated systems for autonomous driving. They are designed to locate their current position to within centimetres, monitor in detail and analyse what is happening with other road users, and then respond with high accuracy. The transport control centre continuously monitors the progress of the transport and keeps an accurate watch of each vehicle's position, the batteries' charge, load content, service requirements and a number of other parameters. As with an industrial production process, speed and progress are tailored to avoid unnecessary waiting and to increase delivery precision. In this way it will be possible to minimise waste in the form of buffer stocks and increase availability. Vehicles that operate on the same route cooperate to create optimal flow. Source