Volvo's self-driving cars will be tested in China as it sends a fleet of 100 autonomous vehicles (AVs) there for road tests. Human drivers will test the robotic cars on China's roads. The Swedish automaker claims that if the tests are successful it will be a big step forward that will allow drivers and passengers to sit back and enjoy rides in driverless cars.       

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Håkan Samuelsson is president and chief executive of Volvo. He says that AVs can greatly help to increase road safety, so it is important to get them on the road as soon as possible, according to ZDNet.

The company's new project is part of its Drive Me program. Erik Coelingh is the senior technical leader for Volvo's safety and driver support technologies. He referred to the industry's big tech developments such as from Tesla, Mercedes, and Google self-driving cars, but shared Volvo wants to learn how it will affect its customers and society.

Volvo's project will allow 100 customers to sit behind the steering wheels of Volvo autonomous cars. They will learn how AV technology works, affects safety, and changes everyday driving.

The car maker is developing AVs as part of its goal to end all major injuries and deaths while driving in new Volvo cars, by the year 2020. It picked China to test its self-driving vehicles due to the heavy traffic that creates many challenging situations for robotic cars.

Volvo's new project will give drivers the ability to test the prototype cars in everyday conditions. However, only certain driving situations will be included such as expressways and highways, according to Reuters.       

Volvo is now looking for a city that could provide the needed permissions and regulations to do the experiments. However, it did not reveal when it wants to start the road tests.

China has become the world's largest auto market and promotes futuristic tech including autonomous cars.  

In related news, researchers at the Illinois Institute of Technology have started studying the long-term impacts AVs would have on cities. Only six percent of long-term transportation plans of major United States cities factor in the effect of self-driving cars.

Here's Volvo's self-driving car project: