What's all this about?

Uber, the ride-sharing technology company, is extending its autonomous driving pilot to San Francisco with a fleet of converted Volvo XC90s. The two companies joined forces in August 2016 to build vehicles that can be used to develop fully autonomous, driverless cars. An initial phase of testing was undertaken in Pittsburgh.

How does the alliance work?

Uber is using its own self-driving hardware and software, which is fitted to base vehicles built by Volvo. The autonomous XC90s can be identified by the roof-mounted control apparatus. While the cars are driving autonomously around San Francisco, an Uber technician will ride on-board to supervise the system's operation.
The alliance with Uber is one element of Volvo's three-part plan to develop autonomous driving (AD) technologies. Volvo Cars and Uber are contributing a combined $300m to the project. Uber and Volvo will use the same base vehicle for the next stage of their own autonomous car strategies.

What about the rest of the autonomous driving strategy?

In January 2017 Volvo will launch Drive Me, 'the world's largest autonomous driving test', in Sweden. Members of the public will be given autonomous cars to use on real roads with the driver experience used to shape the AD development programme.
Volvo has also established a joint venture with Autoliv, the automotive safety technology company, to set up a new jointly owned business to design and manufacture separately branded AD and driver-assistance software technology packages for sale to third-party OEMs. The new company will be based in Gothenburg, Sweden with an initial workforce taken from both companies. The company is expected to start operations in the beginning of 2017.