According to Volvo, having to go through airport
security and waiting several hours to board a noisy, cramped airplane is
something the autonomous car of the future will be able to fix.
The automaker’s new 360c concept represents a
self-driving fully electric first-class private cabin that can drive you to
your destination in complete comfort, regardless of how far away it is. It also
doesn’t have a steering wheel, which means even more room for passengers to
stretch out. These types of vehicles could open up new growth markets for Volvo,
such as the multi-billion dollar domestic air travel industry.
The 360c concept has four main potential uses – a
sleeping environment, mobile office, living room and entertainment space, all
of which re-imagine the way people travel.
Volvo sees the 360c as a “potentially lucrative
competitor” to short-haul air travel, specifically on shorter routes where the
distance to your destination is roughly 300 km.
In the United States alone, more than 740 million
people embarked on domestic flights last year, an industry that’s worth
billions of dollars in revenue. Meanwhile, several domestic air routes such as
New York to Washington DC, Houston to Dallas and Los Angeles to San Diego, are
more time-consuming by air than by car if you also factor in having to get to
the airport, going through security and other various waiting times.
Volvo says that their latest concept doesn’t just
re-imagine traveling, but also looks at how people engage with friends and
family whenever on the move, “recapturing” time on the road. So in a sense, the
360c represents a first step towards a broad discussion about how autonomous
technology will change society, or as Levenstam puts it: “a conversation
starter, with more ideas and answers to come as we learn more.”
