Volvo wants to help you save money on car insurance

This news is about car insurance, not home energy upgrades, so it does not affect your house directly. Still, here is what Volvo announced.

Volvo is rolling out an app called Safety Coach that tracks driving habits like braking, acceleration, and turning, then gives you a personal safety score along with tips to improve it. The app shows up on the car's dashboard screen and in the Volvo Cars app. It launches this month in Sweden and Norway first, with the US and other European markets to follow. Volvo says most 2020 model-year and newer vehicles will be able to use it, listing models such as the XC40, EX40, C40 Recharge, S60, XC60, EX60, XC90, V90, and EX90, as long as they have a Google Android-based infotainment system.

The point of the app is to let drivers share their driving data with insurance companies in exchange for usage-based premiums. In Sweden and Norway, Volvo drivers can get an offer through the insurer Volvia if they opt in. Volvo says similar insurance deals are planned for the US and other markets once the app arrives there, though no dollar figures or dates for those offers have been given yet. Using the app and sharing data is optional. Volvo built the scoring system with Cambridge Mobile Telematics, the same company behind other usage-based insurance programs, which has found that drivers using these tools tend to speed and brake hard less often.