Volvo launches app that evaluates driving and can generate a discount on car insurance

Volvo has started offering customers an app that rates driving behavior and can turn into a discount on car insurance. Called Safety Coach, the feature is optional and debuts in Sweden and Norway, with expansion planned for the United States and other European markets.

The system evaluates hard braking, acceleration, cornering behavior and speed, and converts the data into a dynamic safety score. The guidelines arrive in real time on the screen of the multimedia center and the smartphone version, integrated into the brand’s application. The algorithm that generates the score is from Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT), which specializes in telemetry.

Why driving well can make the policy cheaper

The logic is in the so-called usage-based insurance. The traditional calculation of the premium is based on indirect variables: age, gender, zip code, vehicle model and claim history. These are group averages, not measurements of the specific driver. Telemetry inverts this logic by recording what the driver actually does, allowing you to price your risk individually.

Thus, the insurer more accurately identifies who drives cautiously and charges less of this portion of the portfolio. And, by returning the note to the driver, it creates an incentive to reduce aggressive maneuvers, which tends to reduce the frequency of accidents and, with it, the cost of claims. According to CMT, its safe driving programs record a drop in speeding and sudden braking among users who actively participate.

In Sweden and Norway, those who authorize the sharing of data may receive a specific offer from Volvia, an insurance company linked to Volvo. The automaker intends to replicate the model in other markets, but has not yet announced which insurer it will operate with in the United States. The shipment is reversible: the driver can interrupt it and resume it later.

For Mikael Ljung Aust, driver behaviour specialist at Volvo Cars, predictability is central to collision avoidance: keeping speed in the expected range and avoiding abrupt manoeuvres makes driving easier for others to anticipate. The concept is similar to Tesla’s Safety Score, although Volvo maintains that its approach is based on decades of its own research.

The initial version serves vehicles with Android-based multimedia from the 2020 model year onwards, including XC40, EX40, EC40, S60, V60, XC60, EX60, XC90, V90, EX90 and ES90, with variable availability by market.

And in Brazil?

There is no equivalent program conducted by an automaker, with data collected by the car itself. Brazilian initiatives run on cell phones. Porto maintains Trânsito + Gentil, which monitors acceleration, braking and phone use behind the wheel and converts the score into a discount when contracting or renewing auto insurance. The insurtech Justos built the business on this model, with monthly evaluation of braking, cornering, acceleration and cell phone use.

In any case, the collection depends on the consent of the holder, under the terms of the General Data Protection Law. The schedule released by Volvo does not include Brazil.