Volvo is introducing a new in-car app called Safety Coach that uses driving behavior to help owners become safer drivers and potentially reduce insurance costs. The system analyzes habits such as braking, acceleration and cornering before assigning drivers a personalized safety score that can be shared with an insurer if the owner chooses.
How Volvo Safety Coach Works
Safety Coach provides real-time insights into a driver’s behavior and offers tips based on how the vehicle is being driven. The app evaluates factors including braking, acceleration and cornering, then produces a personalized score intended to reflect how safely and predictably the driver operates the vehicle.
Volvo owners can choose to share their Safety Coach data with a third-party insurer. Depending on the driving score, insurers could offer usage-based discounts or other rewards.
Privacy Remains a Key Issue
Volvo says Safety Coach was developed “with privacy and transparency at its core.” The system is optional, and owners must opt in before using the app.
Drivers must also provide separate consent before their data can be shared with an affiliated insurer. Safety Coach was developed with Cambridge Mobile Telematics, whose algorithm is used to calculate each driver’s score.
The privacy question is particularly important because legacy automakers such as General Motors and Toyota have faced lawsuits involving allegations that customers’ driving data was shared with third parties without proper consent.
The allegations involved data gathered through connected-vehicle services that can provide features such as navigation and automatic emergency assistance. According to the allegations, insurers received driving scores that could help determine whether premiums should be increased for drivers considered risky.
Safety Coach Launches in Europe First
Safety Coach is initially rolling out in Sweden and Norway. Volvo says the app will be available for most compatible vehicles from the 2020 model year onward.
Compatible models include the XC40, EX40, EC40, S60, V60, XC60, EX60, XC90, V90, EX90 and ES90.
Volvo Plans a U.S. Launch
The Safety Coach app is expected to reach the U.S. soon, although Volvo has not disclosed a specific American launch date or identified its affiliated U.S. insurers.
In the U.S., Volvo offers several electrified SUVs, including mild-hybrid and plug-in-hybrid versions of the XC40, XC60 and XC90. The company is also discontinuing the EX30 after the 2026 model year amid tariffs and weaker EV demand.
The EX40 is reportedly set to be replaced by a new EX50, an electric crossover expected to be roughly comparable in size to the Ford Mustang Mach-E.
A Potential New Way to Reward Safer Driving
Volvo Safety Coach combines real-time driving feedback with a personalized safety score and gives owners control over whether their information is shared with an insurer. The system is launching in Sweden and Norway first, with a U.S. rollout expected but not yet assigned a specific date.
