Uber orders 100 self-driving vehicles from Volvo

A month after Uber said its self-driving Volvos were still under development, the ride-hailing giant Uber has already ordered 100 self-driving vehicles from the Swedish company, Volvo said on Wednesday.

The news came as an 18-wheeler self-driving Volvo trailer drove from Fort Collins, Colorado, to Colorado Springs, bearing 50,000 cans of Budweiser beer. The Volvo truck, equipped with cameras and sensors, was owned by Otto, a self-driving truck company acquired by Uber recently.

Uber inked a deal with Volvo in August to purchase 100 cars by the end of the year, with the goal of outfitting them with the ride-hail company's autonomous hardware.

The cars are built on Volvo's Scalable Product Architecture, the same platform as its XC90, S90, and V90 cars.

Uber's small fleet of self-driving Ford Fusion cars has been shepherding a select number of passengers around Pittsburgh since early September, but so far Uber has declined to discuss the progress.

The cars have "Uber" stenciled on the sides and an array of cameras and sensors on the roof like a jaunty hat.

--IANS

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