Swedish multinational automobile manufacturer Volvo Group has confirmed that it is teaming up with its hometown of Gothenburg in Sweden to design and develop a city of the future. Revealing the plans, the automobile manufacturer said that the Gothenburg Green City Zone in the second-largest city of Sweden will consist of a number of new urban zones that Volvo Group will be instrumental in designing and developing.

Now, the question arises why a successful automobile manufacturer like Volvo is turning its focus onto development of a city. Actually, the role of infrastructure is becoming more and more crucial in the launch of new vehicle technologies, particularly autonomous or self-driving technologies.

Like Volvo executives, many industry experts are also of the view that designing as well as developing special city zones for futuristic vehicle technologies is must for successfully bringing these technologies to the masses in the coming years. The green city zones will be ideal safe havens for autonomous vehicles, serving as test beds for new-fangled technologies like self-driving technologies, shared mobility solutions as well as electrification (i.e. charging stations) as more and more companies are transiting from conventional fossil fuel-powered engines to EVs.

Volvo will use the Gothenburg Green City Zone to test things such as geo-enabled vehicle limitations, in which driving through a certain zone would force the EV to operate in electric-only mode while ensuring that it remains within determined speed limits. In addition, there will be a strong link between traffic infrastructure and active safety features of the EV for sharing of information between different road users for ensuring safety. The zone will also be equipped with a substantial charging network to ensure adequate supply of energy to EVs.

Autonomous vehicles form Volvo’s wholly-owned mobility provider brand, called M, will roam the streets in the special zone. Established in the year of 2018, “M” is a stand-alone entity within Volvo Car Group that aims to provide a better alternative to car ownership, particularly in urban and metro areas. Its mission is to enable people to move freely as well as sustainably.

Being a main stakeholder in the Gothenburg Green City Zone, Volvo can ensure that the environment and infrastructure for all of its new-fangled vehicle technologies is friendly as well as receptive to them. Work on the Gothenburg city zone transformations is expected to start in spring this year.