Volvo’s AI driven future for Electric Vehicles and Autonomous Safety
Volvo Cars is stepping boldly into the future with the launch of its new fully electric EX90 SUV, a model that doesn’t just represent a leap in automotive design but sets the stage for a new era of vehicle safety, sustainability, and artificial intelligence.
Built on NVIDIA’s cutting-edge computing and AI platforms, Volvo’s latest flagship is not just a car—it’s a glimpse into the future of automotive technology.
The Volvo EX90 Hits the Roads
The EX90 is Volvo’s most advanced vehicle to date, embodying the company’s commitment to safety, sustainability, and innovative design. Fresh off the assembly line in Charleston, South Carolina, this state-of-the-art SUV is already making its way to dealerships across the United States and Europe. Volvo’s CEO Jim Rowan has taken the car on a cross-country test drive, and he’s not shy about his excitement.
“The EX90 is the best car we have ever made,” he said. “From the handling, ride comfort, and cabin silence to the tech and reliability, the EX90 is the start of a new era for Volvo Cars, and it begins now.”
What sets the EX90 apart is its core system, powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Orin, a state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip (SoC) capable of 250 trillion operations per second. This AI brain orchestrates everything inside the car, from advanced safety and driving assistance systems to seamless infotainment and battery management. The SUV is designed to be more than just a vehicle; it’s a constantly evolving smart device on wheels, equipped with radar, lidar, cameras, and ultrasonic sensors that create a 360-degree safety net around the car.
The Next Generation of Automotive Intelligence
Looking ahead, Volvo Cars isn’t resting on its laurels. The company has announced plans to integrate NVIDIA’s next-generation DRIVE Thor SoC into its future models before the decade’s end. This upgrade will quadruple the processing power to 1,000 TOPS (trillions of operations per second), making Volvo’s vehicles not just smarter but exponentially more efficient and capable of supporting advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving.
“With NVIDIA DRIVE Thor in our future cars, our in-house developed software becomes more scalable across our product line-up,” said Jim Rowan. “It helps us continue to improve safety, deliver best-in-class customer experiences, and increase our margins.”
The integration of the DRIVE Thor platform, which features NVIDIA’s latest Blackwell GPU architecture, opens the door to generative AI-based capabilities and new in-car experiences that are set to redefine what drivers can expect from their vehicles.
Supercharging AI Training with NVIDIA DGX Systems
Volvo’s ambitious plans go beyond just putting advanced hardware in its cars. Through its software subsidiary Zenseact, Volvo is investing heavily in NVIDIA DGX systems for AI training—one of the most powerful AI supercomputing platforms available. Located in the Nordics, this AI training hub will play a pivotal role in developing next-generation safety features for Volvo’s future fleets, ensuring that every AI-powered decision made on the road is as informed and safe as possible.
The DGX systems provide the computational muscle needed to process vast amounts of data, helping to speed up the development of ADAS and autonomous driving software. This is particularly crucial for the intricate task of data annotation—identifying and labelling objects for AI training, which traditionally consumes both time and resources. Anders Bell, Chief Engineering and Technology Officer at Volvo Cars, highlighted the significance: “The NVIDIA DGX AI supercomputer will supercharge our AI training capabilities, making this in-house AI training centre one of the largest in the Nordics.”
A Collaborative Future
Volvo’s partnership with NVIDIA extends beyond the physical car to the cloud, where data from millions of sensors across the fleet is continuously processed and analysed. This seamless integration between car and cloud allows Volvo to deliver over-the-air updates that keep vehicles on the cutting edge of safety and technology without the need for costly hardware upgrades.
This approach ensures that every Volvo vehicle is not just a product of its time but an evolving machine that gets smarter, safer, and more capable as new updates are deployed. It’s a strategy that positions Volvo at the forefront of the software-defined car revolution, where the driving experience is shaped as much by code and AI as by steel and rubber.
Safety and Sustainability at the Core
The EX90 isn’t just a technological marvel; it’s also a testament to Volvo’s unwavering commitment to safety and sustainability. Designed to be the safest car Volvo has ever made, the EX90 features next-generation safety tech informed by advanced sensors and AI-driven decision-making. It’s also the first Volvo equipped with a lidar system, providing unmatched accuracy in detecting objects around the vehicle—even in low light or adverse weather conditions.
Beyond safety, the EX90’s all-electric powertrain offers a driving range of up to 600 km, underscoring Volvo’s push towards a fully electric future. It’s also designed to support bidirectional charging, allowing owners to feed power back to the grid, contributing to a more balanced and sustainable energy ecosystem.
The Future Is Here
Volvo’s journey from a traditional automaker to a leader in the digital and electric vehicle space is more than just a pivot; it’s a transformation that’s redefining what we expect from our cars. By investing in advanced AI technologies, integrating NVIDIA’s powerful computing platforms, and building a state-of-the-art AI training centre, Volvo is setting new benchmarks for the entire automotive industry.
As the EX90 hits the road, it serves as a tangible symbol of this new era—one where cars are not just vehicles but intelligent, connected machines designed to make driving safer, more efficient, and infinitely more enjoyable. The future of mobility has arrived, and Volvo is steering the way.
