Polestar 3 Electric SUV: Look Ma, No Hands (or Accidents)

The Polestar 3 electric SUV will be equipped to offer the best long-range lidar for hands-free highway driving, executives of the electric vehiclecompany say, but it will not activated at launch next year. Nor will it be the first EV to put Level 3 semi-autonomous capability on the road.

The Polestar 3 will go into production in late 2022 or early 2023 and the SUVs will be equipped to use an advanced lidar system from Luminar, a tech company making waves with its efforts to build the "uncrashable" car.

Lidar stands for light detection and ranging. It sends pulses of light from a laser that bounce off objects and return to the sensor to create a 3D map of the vehicle's surroundings. Unlike cameras, the picture is not affected by headlights, sunlight, or shadows. But it can be impacted by bad weather.

No Hands, Feet or Attentive Eyes Required

What makes Luminar's third-generation Iris Lidar sensing system stand out is that the vehicle does not need any driver input or attention. The long-range lidar system offers Level 3 hands-free driving on designated stretches of highway. The driver can take their hands off the wheel, feet off the pedals, and can also divert their eyes and attention elsewhere such as answering emails or watching a movie. Luminar developed its own hardware and software and created the Iris sensing platform for significantly less cost. Luminar will start making its third-generation Iris Lidar system at the end of 2022, Russell says.

Luminar worked with automakers to create a smaller and sleeker hardware package that is almost flush with the roof so it does not destroy the aesthetics. An advantage of high placement is a better view of the road ahead and you don't get as much salt and dirt as you would placing it in the grille, Jellicoe says. It is also less likely to be damaged in a collision.

Systems like Tesla's Autopilot or GM's Super Cruise require the driver's attention—GM vehicles monitor the driver's eyes—to ensure the driver can take control if needed. They are considered Level 2 on the autonomous driving scale and the systems are designed to deactivate if hands are off the wheel for too long or eyes are diverted.

The Luminar system enables proactive safety systems on vehicles, making them capable of coming to a complete stop from any speed, making accidents impossible, says Luminar CEO Austin Russell. This gives drivers more confidence than systems that depend on radar and cameras alone.

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Comparing Lidar Systems

Uncrashable is a hard claim to make, says Tom Jellicoe, head of autonomous technology with The Technology Partnership consultancy in the U.K. But among lidar suppliers with sizable contracts with automakers, Luminar has the longest range. Its lidar can read the landscape from 1,148-1,640 feet away, depending on the size of the object, which is much further than the human eye can see or headlights can illuminate. That is a real strength because it gives the vehicle more time to react. Valeo is working on third-generation lidar sensor systems, due in 2024, that can see objects more than 650 feet away with a wider viewing angle. Continental is working on lidar, also pegged for production in 2024, that can scan objects 984 feet away.

Luminar has a technically talented workforce that designs its tech and software inhouse, solving problems as they arise, and working well with automakers to integrate its systems, Jellicoe says. Luminar's sensors work well and the tech company has some of the best software. A company can have the best lasers, but software makes the difference, he says.

Volvo First Up to Get Luminar Lidar

Luminar will provide lidar sensors to Volvo starting in late 2022. They will be used in the Volvo XC90 replacement, which could be called the Embla. The new 2022 flagship electric SUV will be on the next generation of Volvo's Scalable Product Architecture or SPA2, designed to handle the advanced driving capability.

Volvo plans to make lidar standard as part of Volvo's safety package in a bid to set a new industry standard and avoid collisions. The new flagship SUV will also use NVIDIA's autonomous driving computing chips for its Highway Pilot Level 3 hands-free driving capability on designated stretches of highway where this degree of autonomous driving is allowed.

The Polestar 3 will also go into production in late 2022 or early 2023 and uses Volvo's SPA2 which means it also will have electrical architecture to accommodate the Luminar advanced lidar. Initially, the Polestar 3 will only use Luminar tech for partially autonomous highway driving in the form of driver-assist safety systems.

Polestar 3 Level 3 Autonomy Coming in 2025

Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said he will wait until 2025 to make the more advanced Level 3 hands-free system available in the Polestar 3. When the time comes, it will be activated via an over-the-air software update. Ingenlath says he thinks the extra time is needed for further testing and also for legislators to allow Level 3 on U.S. roads. No Level 3 systems are legal to use on American roads yet. There is one place where such tech is allowed: parts of the Autobahn in Germany.

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Mercedes Beats Tesla to Level 3 Autonomy in Germany

Mercedes has been given regulatory approval to use its Drive Pilot hands-free driving system that uses a Valeo lidar system, on about 810 miles of the Autobahn in Germany. It is limited to speeds of 37 miles per hour, but it means Mercedes will beat Tesla in the race to offer Level 3 autonomous driving.

Mercedes will offer Drive Pilot as an option on the Mercedes S-Class and Mercedes EQS electric sedan, beginning in mid-2022.