Volvo's latest app evaluates your driving and shares the score with your insurance provider.

      Volvo is introducing Safety Coach, an optional application that evaluates braking, acceleration, and cornering, with high-scoring drivers receiving lower usage-based insurance rates through Volvia. This initiative begins this month in Sweden and Norway, followed by the United States and other European markets.

      The app assesses driving behavior and provides the results to an insurer. Safety Coach tracks braking, acceleration, and cornering, generating a safety score that reflects the past two weeks. Drivers who share their scores may be offered usage-based insurance options.

      This application launches this month in Sweden and Norway, compatible with most Volvos from the 2020 model year equipped with the Google-based infotainment system. This includes electric models like the EX40, EC40, EX60, and EX90, as well as combustion vehicles such as the XC40, S60, XC60, and XC90. Additional markets, including the United States and other European countries, will follow suit later.

      The scoring algorithm is developed by Cambridge Mobile Telematics, which claims to be the largest telematics and AI firm focused on road safety. In the Nordic region, the insurance provided comes from Volvia, a collaboration between Volvo and If P&C that has existed since 1959.

      Volvo emphasizes predictability over caution. “Our research indicates that many accidents stem from unexpected events,” explained Mikael Ljung Aust, a driver behavior specialist at the company. He noted that maintaining expected speed limits and avoiding sudden maneuvers makes a driver's actions more predictable to others on the road.

      Moreover, the consent aspect deserves greater focus than the app itself. Safety Coach is optional, allowing drivers to control their data, and consenting once does not create a long-term commitment. They can choose to stop sharing their data with insurers and resume later if they wish.

      This approach appears to be a lesson learned from General Motors, which previously shared OnStar driving data with brokers who then provided it to insurers without adequate consent. Consequently, the US Federal Trade Commission prohibited GM from sharing that data with consumer reporting agencies for five years.

      The scoring model used is akin to Tesla's, which has faced criticism since its inception. Tesla owners have voiced concerns that their scores are affected by hard braking events that were not intentional, prompting the company to establish a method for contesting such scores.

      Nevertheless, monitoring drivers from the driver's seat is becoming increasingly common in Europe. New EU regulations already mandate the installation of a driver-monitoring camera in every new vehicle, although this system remains within the car and does not transmit data to insurers.

      What Volvo has yet to clarify are the significant commercial aspects. There is no identified US insurance partner, no information on the size of the potential discount, and no indication if a low score could negatively impact a driver instead of simply preventing them from receiving a discount.