The Swedish city of Gothenburg has partnered with a number of organisations, including Volvo Cars, to develop new urban zones that will be used as testbeds for future sustainable technologies.
From spring 2021, the initiative, called Gothenburg Green City Zone, aims to establish an area inside Scandinavia’s largest port city that is completely emission-free, with a variety of climate-neutral transportation modes and a connected infrastructure, as part of a wider effort of achieving a climate-neutral city by 2030.
“Being able to test new ideas will be decisive for reducing climate emissions at the rate required,” said Emmyly Bönfors, chair of the city of Gothenburg’s environmental and climate committee. “Zero-emission zones are a brilliant example of how we can reduce climate emissions while at the same time pushing for sustainable business development.”
As part of the real-world testbed, Volvo plans to run robotaxis operated by its fully-owned mobility provider M, within the zone, to accelerate development of technologies and services in the areas of electrification, shared mobility, autonomous driving, connectivity and safety.
Examples of technologies to be tested include geo-enabling solutions and services ensuring that cars in the zone operate in electric-only mode and remain within speed limits, as well as traffic infrastructure that can connect to active safety features in cars and share information between road users.
Other potential examples include fully electric mobility hubs; a complete, easy-to-use charging network for electric cars; and autonomous taxis.
The Gothenburg Green City Zone initiative is being taken jointly by the city of Gothenburg through Business Region Göteborg, Volvo Cars, and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden.
Other organisations involved include Chalmers University of Technology, the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre, the City of Mölndal and Johanneberg Science Park.
