Uber snaps up 24,000 Volvo XC90s

Uber expanded three years' of cooperation with Volvo by announcing a deal for the Swedish car maker to supply the ride-share pioneer with 24,000 XC90s.

The deal is savvy for both parties; a sales boost for Volvo and the hardware to support the self-driving software Uber has developed.

Initially, the plan for the robotaxis will be restricted to North America and the XC90s will function, without a driver, up to Level 4 autonomy in certain conditions, thought to be areas which have been thoroughly mapped and geofenced.

Neither company has announced when the huge fleet of robotaxis will hit the road, nor which city will be first - although Volvo says the agreement period runs from 2019 until 2021.

The deal, the biggest in Volvo's 90-year history, is only the beginning as the Swedish car maker looks for new partners to exploit its self-driving tech.

Instead of standard off-the-line XC90s, the Uber Volvos are said to have undergone a "tremendous amount of engineering".

This includes additional embeded sensors around the vehicle including those mounted on the roof and behind the front grille and rear bumpers.

Costs of these extra components have been shared.

Commenting on the deal, Volvo's CEO Hakan Samuelsson said: "Our aim is to be the supplier of choice for autonomous driving ride-sharing service providers globally. Today's agreement with Uber is a primary example of that strategic direction".

Earlier this year, in March, it was thought the Uber-Volvo partnership was on the skids following a well-publicised accident with an experimental XC90 which saw all Uber testing suspended.

Luckily, for both parties, after completing its investigation, Arizona police found the driverless SUV was obeying the law at the time and fined the other driver involved for not giving way.