Uber adds autonomous cars to its fleet

Uber, the American company that has revolutionized the transportation sector since its inception in 2009, recently announced that it will begin operation of its autonomous fleet in less than a month. The step comes at a time when several auto manufactures are working towards providing the latest and the safest of technologies, while inching closer and closer to an autonomous future.

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Travis Kalanic, CEO of Uber, confirmed at a recent interview that the company is just about ready to roll out its first set of driverless, autonomous cars later this month in Pittsburgh. The cars in question, heavily modified Volvo XC90s, will still have a driver seated to supervise the ride.

On its recent acquisition of Otto, a company that specializes in autonomous big-rig trucks, Lior Ron, Co-Founder of Otto said, “By joining forces with Uber we can fast forward to the future. Together, Otto and Uber can build the backbone of the rapidly-approaching self-driving freight system.”

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Uber and Volvo’s $300 million (AED 1,101,945,000) deal, is believed to see the transportation giant buy Volvo vehicles and add the necessary equipment to make them autonomous. With Uber operating in the Middle East, the question isn’t whether it’ll bring autonomous cars to the region, but more along the lines of when?

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