McIntyre’s description seems to suit, at the very least, Level 4 autonomy, which means that the person behind the wheel is not driving while the function is activated. If Ride Pilot returned control to the driver if it became uncertain about the surroundings, it would be degraded to Level 3. And if the automobile could travel in all situations (rather than only those specified by certain ODDs), it would be elevated to Level 5.
It is vital to note that the hardware required for autonomous driving is just a small percentage of what is required to solve self-driving. With lidar-equipped commercial cars on the road today, there are several safety, software, and regulatory challenges that even seasoned professionals are having difficulty overcoming. If Volvo does provide Ride Pilot throughout the EX90’s service life, it’s uncertain if the car will really get it. Though all future next-generation Volvos will supposedly feature lidar in the future, and if other cars with the same sensor stack acquire Ride Pilot, the EX90 may as well.
