Volvo EX90 won't drive itself at launch, but autonomy is just a software update away

DETROIT — Traditionally, automakers didn't install anything on a vehicle that they couldn't charge for. While it might simplify manufacturing somewhat to build each vehicle with the same set of parts, it costs money to install buttons, switches, knobs, sensors, computers and wiring for optional or nonfunctioning equipment.

When you build hundreds of thousands of vehicles each year, every extra nickel or dime in parts matters. But in the electric vehicle/infotainment/subscription era, that strategy is changing. With the average age of vehicles at a record high (12-plus years), average transaction prices increasing and loans stretching to eight years and longer, automakers are thinking about how vehicles can generate revenue long after they leave a showroom.

Volvo's EX90 is a good example of how automakers are building capability into vehicles that they might someday be able to monetize.

Every EX90 built will come standard with lidar, even though the software that will enable it to work for autonomous driving won't be ready when the three-row electric crossover arrives late this year, Gaurang Kalsaria, Volvo's head of future vehicles, told me last week during a walk-around of the vehicle at a media preview in Ferndale, Mich.

The lidar system can "see" up to 200 yards in front of the vehicle, and, for now, its role will be limited to improving safety. But Volvo has installed a slew of other parts that will work with the lidar to someday enable the EX90 to drive itself.

"The EX90 will come standard with 16 ultrasonic sensors, eight cameras, five radars and the roof-mounted lidar," Kalsaria said. "One of our promises is to have zero collisions in the future, no one seriously injured in a Volvo."

Safety, of course, has been a key pillar of the Volvo brand for decades. But maintaining safety leadership could prove challenging with self-driving vehicles. The early results show a lot of problems with traffic safety, and a number of companies, such as Argo AI and Embark Technology, have folded.

Kalsaria wouldn't say when the software that will broaden the lidar's systems capabilities to assist in autonomous driving would be ready. And it's not yet clear how Volvo will monetize it. The company is studying a one-time charge when the vehicle is purchased and other options, Kalsaria said. It's also possible, for example, that an EX90 driver could activate the self-driving feature for a charge when the vehicle is going to be used for long road trips.

The strategy is a gamble. The EX90 is a slick, stylish EV with a luxurious interior, blistering performance and about a 300-mile driving range between charges. It will be built in South Carolina and start at around $80,000. Volvo is going to sell plenty of EX90s. But some customers are never going to pay for software that will enable self-driving features.

Even if they don't, Kalsaria says the lidar system is crucial to Volvo's mission.

"All of this technology is helping us get to our main goal," Kalsaria said. "The EX90 will have the most advanced sensor set on any Volvo, and it will be the safest vehicle Volvo has ever built."