The five programs that will be operated by BMV and Daimler AG include Reach Now, Charge Now, Free Now, Park Now and Share now. Reach Now is a service that shows users different ways to get to their destination when traveling, including public transportation, car sharing, and bike rentals. Charge Now will create a massive network of charging stations designed to improve access for electric vehicles. A competitor to Uber and Lyft, Free Now is a ride-hailing app that is already offering services in 17 countries in Europe and Latin America. Park Now lets people plan and pay for parking spots in advance to cut down on time spent driving around looking for open spaces. Finally, Share Now offers shared electric vehicles that serve as an alternative to owning a car.

Most of the ventures under the umbrella of BMV and Daimler are already up and running in some capacity, and the companies claim they already serve more than 60 million customers. Last year, BMV and Daimler decided to operate their mobility services as a 50/50 joint venture to expand their reach and help to future-proof their business models. The automakers won approval from regulators for their plan in December. The initiatives should expand considerably with the new influx of cash as the automakers focus on what the future of transportation might look like.

The deal, with Autoliv – which is responsible for manufacturing everything from seatbelts to airbags, through to more technological safety kit like night vision and radar sensors – will see new driver-assist and autonomous driving software developed for use both by Volvo and other automakers.

With a workforce initially sourced from both Volvo and Autoliv – and expected to number around 200 at first, though with plans to triple in size in the medium term – the so – far unnamed company will begin work at the start of next year.

Both firms will transfer the intellectual property for their respective driver assistance systems (ADAS) to the new venture, while Dennis Nobelius – who was vice president on the Volvo Series 90 line, including the 2017 Volvo S90 and 2018 Volvo V90 we saw back in June – will be chief executive of the newly-formed company. 

Volvo will unsurprisingly get access to all of the developments, both of ADAS that are similar, presumably, to current adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assistance, and other aids already available on the company’s cars, and also to the autonomous drive (AD) systems that will further relegate the person behind the wheel to passenger status.

However, Autoliv will be offering the same tech to other automakers, with Volvo sharing a cut of the revenues. The first ADAS technology is expected to be ready for licensing by 2019, though AD systems will follow on in 2021. 

Volvo’s role in driver assistance and safety technology has been significant over the years; indeed, the company was the first to patent the car seat belt, though it made the design open so that other automakers could benefit. Most recently, it has announced plans to test autonomous systems in multiple countries including China and the UK.

Notably, while the rest of the auto industry is fairly noncommittal on who is to blame should self-driving cars go wrong, Volvo has said it will take responsibility. Back in April, it joined a coalition with Ford, Google, Uber, and Lyft to co-develop autonomous technologies.

SEE ALSO: Pricing for Volvo S90 announced