Volvo Cars is launching a new connected car app and concierge services program that will let customers push off all of the annoying chores that come with car ownership onto someone else.
Volvo made the announcement Thursday at the LA Auto Show. Volvo owners can use the app to order services such as remote fuel delivery, valet car cleaning, and Volvo maintenance.
The so-called Volvo Concierge service sends a one-time-use digital key that location and time-specific, and is sent to the authorized provider to access the vehicle. Once the services are complete, the car is locked, and the digital key expires. The car can either be returned to where the customer left it or delivered to a completely new location at the customer’s request, Volvo says.
A pilot program of the concierge service scheduled to roll out this month in the San Francisco Bay area. Even as it ramps up, the service will be limited to about 300 invited drivers of new Volvo XC90 SUVs and S90 luxury sedans.
The company is partnering with Filld, an on-demand fuel delivery startup, for the new program. Additional services are anticipated to be added in the future, Volvo says.
Volvo says its experimenting with on-demand services like this based on customer demand. The company found 70% of Volvo consumers surveyed said want on-demand fueling services, 56% want their car taken for maintenance, and 49% liked the idea of being able to have their car moved to another location.
Get Data Sheet, Coins2Day’s daily newsletter about technology.
Volvo has been experimenting with its so-called in-car delivery services since 2014, when it first presented the idea at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The company, which was acquired by Zhejiang Geely Holding of China in 2010, launched an in-car delivery service last year tied to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
In May, the company introduced a new service with Swedish startup Urb-it promises to deliver packages ordered online to a car owner’s trunk in under two hours. The delivery service was initially limited to Volvo owners living in Stockholm, Sweden.
The delivery service was expected to expand to several European cities this year and to more than 200 cities globally by 2025.
