Volvo is well known as champions of safety for vehicles on our roads. They have been working closely with the Swedish government on their Vision Zero project, which aims to reduce the numbers of deaths from road traffic accidents. One of the ways this is being achieved is to add more travel options and better public transport services, all meant to help reduce the numbers of cars on our roads.
Several American states are using the same methods and they appear to be working. Commuters especially are starting to use trains more than ever, as they can sit back and relax for their journey rather than have the stress of driving through rush hour traffic.
The Car That Is Home From Home
It is not these shorter journeys that the Volvo 360c is aimed at. It is meant to replace some of the flights that people have to take from one part of the country to another. They want people to be able to do this in comfort, without the hassle of the time hanging around airports but with the convenience that sitting on a plane gives.
Inside this car, you will find a fridge, a bar and a sink with a faucet so that you can clean your teeth. The seats are all moveable so you can position them however you want, and it even has a fold-away bed.
Volvo chief strategist, Marten Levenstam, put it in a nutshell when he said “The sleeping cabin allows you to enjoy premium comfort and peaceful travel through the night and wake up refreshed at your destination. It could enable us to compete with the world’s leading aircraft makers”
The headlines for their press release posed the question ‘Why fly when you can be driven. What if, instead, you could take your own first-class private cabin that picks you up at home and takes you from door to door?’
One industry that is showing some concern over these vehicles is that of insurance. Until there are more self-drive vehicles that have been accident-free, it is quite hard for them to determine what sorts of premiums they should be charging. Certainly, at the present time, it would not be easy to find cheap auto insurance, the likes of which you can find at https://cheapautoinsurance.co/, for a self-drive car. That could make driving it even more expensive.
Can The Roads Cope?
These all sound great in theory, but there is some doubt that the roads can cope with more traffic. It is because of the huge amount of traffic that already makes our roads so congested, that other transport methods are being improved. There are some states that are handling the problem another way, by widening existing highways to add another traffic lane. There are others that are building new roads as alternative routes.
If a few planes are emptied of their passengers and they are all in these self-drive cars that will just make the congestion worse. So is this such a good idea after all? Of course, Volvo would have us think so because it is their car that will have the capabilities, and there are many that agree with them and think the 360c will be a great way to travel. However, there are other road users who think it will not be the success Volvo is hoping for, as more and more people turn to using trains and other forms of transport. Some people are also questioning the method of power the car will have. For instance, if it is electric, will the battery hold enough power to make a journey that takes several hours? You would not want to wake up in the morning and find you are only half way to your destination because the battery is flat.
