Ask any person on the street what comes to mind when they think of Volvo Cars, and many will answer: safety. It’s what we’re proud to be known for, it’s what we’ve built our brand on.

For us, safety is not a marketing exercise or another regulatory hurdle to clear. It’s at the core of our purpose as a company.

As our chief executive Jim Rowan puts it in a new keynote, available for viewing HERE, we’ve been around for almost 100 years as a leader in automotive safety, setting new standards and inventing new technologies that have saved many lives.

In our forthcoming Volvo EX90 all-electric flagship SUV, which will be revealed on November 9, that legacy continues. The standard safety in the EX90 will be beyond that of any Volvo before it. As it should be because only innovation can drive us forward and make things better.

We’ll continue to innovate until cars don’t crash anymore until we’re 100 percent carbon-free as a company. All in order to protect more lives, in line with our purpose. The EX90 is the start of a new era for Volvo Cars, taking our legacy of safety, quality, and innovation into the future.

Understanding the human experience

So what can you expect in our new Volvo EX90? It’s a car designed to understand you and its surroundings to help keep you, your loved ones, and others in traffic safe. It can also get smarter and safer over time, as it learns from new data and receives updates.

The development of our latest safety technology is based on understanding human behavior, rooted in decades of our own and others’ safety research. Every one of us is likely to experience or be affected by at least one car crash in our lifetime.

That’s not a judgment: we know that most of the time you’re a great driver, alert and ready to act when needed. But we’re all humans, and that also means to experience emotions.

We know that distraction and tiredness are facts of life and that they travel with us. We know that you may not always be at your best, for whatever reason. And in traffic, it takes only a few seconds for the unthinkable to happen.

So our aim is to help you be a better driver and reduce the risk of a crash happening. The Volvo EX90 comes with an invisible shield of safety that includes our latest sensing technology, allowing the car to understand your state of mind and the world around you.

Tireless sensors

Start with the outside. State-of-the-art sensors like cameras, radars, and LiDAR, all powered by our core computing platform and software, work together to create a 360-degree real-time view of the world.

Our sensors don’t get tired or distracted. They are designed to respond and react when you’re just a millisecond too late. Our LiDAR senses the road in front of you, whether it’s day or night, and also at highway speeds. It can see small objects hundreds of meters ahead, creating more time to inform, act and avoid.

And as our cars hit the roads and we learn from the data they generate, our research indicates that our software and sensors can help reduce accidents that result in serious injury or death by up to 20 percent.

Likewise, we estimate we can even improve overall crash avoidance by up to 9 percent, which could lead to millions of accidents avoided over time. That would be a big step in safety and for mankind.

A watchful guardian

Inside, our invisible shield of safety also looks out for you. Special sensors and cameras, powered by our own in-house developed algorithms, gauge eye gaze concentration. The technology allows the EX90 to see when you’re distracted, tired, or otherwise inattentive, beyond what has been possible in a Volvo car to date.

It will alert you, first softly nudging, then more insistent if needed. And if the unthinkable happens, and you fall asleep or take ill while driving, the EX90 is designed to safely stop and call for help.

We will reveal a lot more details about our new all-electric flagship in the coming weeks before the global reveal on November 9, so stay tuned!