Volvo Gets Comfortable with Interiors for Self-Driving Cars

Volvo Car Corp.’s Concept 26 design study envisions the interior of future self-driving cars. Volvo unveiled the concept, which sits on the company’s “highly modular scalable product architecture,” this week at the Los Angeles auto show.

The “26” name represents the average number of minutes per day that Volvo calculates drivers could utilize autonomous driving technologies while commuting to and from work. The concept interior includes a tablet interface in the center console, a foldable tray table and a 25-inch, flat-screen monitor that flips up from the passenger side dashboard.

When autonomous driving is initiated, the steering wheel retracts and the seat reclines to a more comfortable position. Users also can configure the interior to optimize it for different activities, such as relaxing, watching television, working at a desk or interacting with passengers.

Volvo will begin public testing of autonomous vehicles in 2017. Under Sweden’s Drive Me program, the carmaker will supply 100 specially equipped XC90 SUVs that can be driven in autonomous mode on about 31 miles of roads in Gothenburg. The carmaker hopes to commercialize the technology by the end of the decade.