Volvo electric vehicles can now warn other cars of animals on the road

Volvo is putting creatures big and small at the forefront of its latest safety updates.

Good news for animal lovers: drivers of some of Volvo’s latest electric cars will now receive warnings from other Volvo vehicles about future dangers to animals.

A new over-the-air software update introduced by the Swedish luxury car maker uses a vehicle’s sensors and cameras to detect hazards, including large animals wandering onto the road.

As part of four new Connected Safety alerts, drivers will receive alerts about hazards ahead or hidden hazards. The new EX60 SUV, the EX90 seven-seater SUV and the ES90 sedan EV will all receive the software update.

Volvo’s update could not only improve road safety but also help reduce the number of animals killed on Britain’s roads each year. Estimates suggest that up to 70 million animals die on Britain’s roads every year.

Volvo has long been a champion of road safety. The Swedish brand famously invented the three-point seat belt and shared the patent with rival manufacturers to improve safety standards across the industry.

How does Volvo’s animal-friendly safety update work?

Volvo’s new feature is called Large Animal Alert.

As the name suggests, the system alerts drivers if a large animal is detected on or near the road ahead.

Once the animal, which can range from sheep and deer to elk, is detected by a car’s sensors and cameras, the vehicle uploads the hazard’s location data to the cloud.

The system then relays the information to nearby EX60s, EX90s and ES90s, alerting drivers as they approach and potentially helping to avoid an accident.

Versions of this technology have been around for years.

Volvo models launched in 2013 featured Animal Detection technology, while 2015 models introduced Interior Large Animal Detection, which uses the vehicle’s radar and camera systems to identify large animals.

In those cases, the driver receives a warning and if no action is taken, the car can brake automatically. However, the system was unable to warn nearby vehicles.

More safety updates are coming to your Volvo

A new warning for vulnerable road users has also been introduced, highlighting potential hazards involving pedestrians and cyclists detected on or near the road.

The new Roadwork Alert alerts drivers when roadworks are detected ahead, while Accident Ahead Alert uses real-time connected data to provide advance warning of incidents further down the road.

These complement Volvo’s existing Slippery Road Alert and Hazard Light Alert systems, among other connected safety features already available in its vehicles.

As is typical for Volvo, the information will not be kept exclusively within its own ecosystem. Instead, the data can also be shared via the European Data for Road Safety system, which includes manufacturers such as Ford, BMW, Volkswagen Group and Geely.

This also allows appropriate warnings to be passed on to other vehicle manufacturers and national traffic control centers.

Åsa Haglund, head of the Volvo Cars Safety Center, said: “Built on decades of our safety understanding in practice, these innovations represent another step towards our vision of zero collisions.

“Every time a Volvo car shares safety information, it helps other drivers prepare sooner, avoid accidents and feel safer.”