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Comment by berryg | Hacker News Reader

No Lidar anymore on the 2026 Volvo models ES60 and EX60. See for example: https://www.jalopnik.com/2032555/volvo-ends-luminar-lidar-20...

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I love Volvo, am considering buying one in a couple weeks actually, but they're doing nothing interesting in terms of ADAS, as far as I can tell. It seems like they're limited to adaptive cruise control and lane keeping, both of which have been solved problems for more than a decade.

It sounds like they removed Lidar due to supplier issues and availability, not because they're trying to build self-driving cars and have determined they don't need it anymore.

I’d suggest doing some research on software quality. Two years back I was all for buying one (I was considering an EX40), but I got myself into some Facebook groups for owners and was shocked at the dreadful reports of quality of the software and it completely put me off. I got an ID4 instead. Reports about the EX90 have been dreadful. I was very interested, and I still admire their look and build when they drive by - but it killed my enthusiasm to buy one for a few years until they get it right.

Software is pretty solid as of latest release. EX90 is a sleeper pick now because of the bad press being behind the latest software.

Is lane keeping really a solved problem? Just last year one of my brand new rented cars tried to kill me a few times when I tried it again, and so far not even the simple lane leaving detection mechanism worked properly in any of the tried cars when it was raining.

What problem is it even solving? Keeping my car straight so I can be less attentive on the road?

I get it in the context of driverless but find it nothing but annoying as a driver.

Lane keep keeps your car in the lane so you can stop paying attention just like cruise control keeps you going the same speed so you can stop paying attention… they don’t.

They are just aids that ease fatigue on long trips.

The "fatigue" from long trips is hardly a result of having to keep in a lane.

It's more so the result of being awake, doing effectively nothing, for a long time. Lane Keep assistance is a useless technology for 99% of the population and the 1% who need it, likely shouldn't be driving a car anyways.

The more we "aid" fatigue, the longer drivers will attempt to drive. This cannot be a good outcome. The worst driving occurs when one is practically half asleep.

I’m not referring to mental fatigue, but the physical ergonomic fatigue simply from continually activating muscles in a narrow range of motion even over a couple of hours.

If you’ve ever driven a 1970s truck you’ll know that continually correcting the steering will wear you out after just a couple of hours. Modern rack and pinion steering is a lot more comfortable, and lane keep is a further comfort improvement.

Adaptive cruise control requires some degree of lane detection. It has to figure out what car it's actually following, not merely what car is in front of it. (The road is turning, the car in front of you can easily not be the car you are actually behind.)

Lane keep is absolutely not a solved problem. Go test drive any of the latest cars from Kia, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Ford, etc. They all will literally kill you.

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