Volvo’s next-gen EVs to be equipped with Unreal Engine systems

Volvo announced that it is teaming up with Epic Games, a leading interactive entertainment and software company best known for videogames like Fortnite and the Gears of War series. Volvo Cars’ collaboration with the videogame developer will see the Swedish automotive brand’s next-generation electric vehicles equipped with Epic’s Unreal Engine.

If you’re into videogames, you’d know that some of the most immersive titles such as the Bioshock series, the Batman: Arkham series, and the Mass Effect series, were all developed using Unreal Engine.

According to Volvo, Epic’s powerful real-time 3D creation tool will provide Volvo owners unparalleled high-quality graphics inside the cabin.

“To offer our customers the best possible user experience and contribute to a safe and personal drive, we need rich, immersive, and responsive visualization inside our cars. Running Unreal Engine in our cars enables this and makes it even more enjoyable to spend time inside a Volvo,” said Volvo Cars Chief Product Officer Henrik Green.

Volvo Cars will be the first European automotive firm to use the Unreal Engine for the development of the Human Machine Interface (HMI). More specifically, it will initially focus on the Driver Information Module (DIM), one of the displays inside the cabin that provides the driver with relevant information and infotainment features.

Epic Game’s Unreal Engine will be paired with the high-performance computing power of the third-generation Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms, allowing the next generation of Volvo cars to set a new standard in graphics and infotainment system performance.

The result will be impressive, high-quality graphics on the vehicle’s onboard displays. Much sharper renderings, richer colors, and brand-new 3D animations are only the first steps as Volvo Cars’ developers continue to push the graphic envelope.

Volvo’s next-generation infotainment system will be more than twice as fast as its predecessor, while graphics generation and processing inside the cabin will be up to 10 times faster.

“When you bring interactive, high-resolution graphics running in real-time into the car, you open the door to a vast range of new ways to inform and entertain everyone inside. Volvo Cars’ deeply talented design and product development teams have grasped this opportunity to do something fresh that will keep evolving with exciting new features that take advantage of the capabilities of Unreal Engine,” said Epic Games Automotive and HMI for Unreal Engine Director Heiko Wenczel.

The Gothenburg-based carmaker will reveal the first Volvo model to be fitted with a system that runs on Unreal Engine later this year. The said model will be the first of a new generation of all-electric Volvo cars, as the company aims to sell only pure electric cars by 2030.

Photos from Volvo, Epic Games, and Unreal Engine

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