Volvo AB said on Thursday that all future models will use a single software system supported by Nvidia's powerful chips and will rely on "megacasting" to cut the cost of electric vehicles.
The company said in a press release ahead of an investor event in Gothenburg that from this month, its flagship electric model, the EX90, will be the first Volvo EV to come from a single technology stack.
Volvo said the software system in the EX90 is powered by Nvidia's DRIVE Orin single-chip system, which has a processing speed of over 250 trillion operations per second (TOPS), and will be replaced by a chip with a processing speed of 1,000 trillion operations per second (TOPS) in the late 2020s.
Anders Bell, Volvo's chief engineering officer, said the software would help Volvo create better car safety systems and continuously improve the flow of vehicles through wireless updates.
Most large carmakers have said software-defined EVs will offer the opportunity to generate billions of dollars of extra revenue through the sale of subscription services, but Bell said Volvo would not adopt that business model.
"Our primary goal is to make cars better and to launch more sticky products, rather than selling a lot of subscription services," he said.
Bell said Volvo would rely on "megacasting" technology, which is similar to Tesla's Gigacasting (one-piece casting), using large pressure machines to make large single aluminium parts for the car's underbody.
Using these large single parts can reduce costs because they replace many individual parts that need to be welded together.
Tesla was a pioneer in the application of one-piece casting, and more carmakers, including General Motors and Nissan, are following suit.
Bell said Volvo would also be able to significantly increase the use of recycled aluminium and reduce emissions across the entire supply chain through the use of megacasting.