Uber will begin offering self-driving Volvo XC90 luxury SUVs to customers in San Francisco, which expands a partnership the companies launched in August to offer self-driving vehicles in Pittsburgh.

Volvo will sell the vehicles to Uber, which will add its own self-driving hardware and software package, including the roof-mounted control apparatus. In some cases, an Uber technician will ride in the vehicle to supervise its operation.

Volvo's alliance with Uber forms one part of Volvo's three-part plan to develop autonomous driving technologies. In January, Volvo will begin a project entitled Drive Me, which will test up to 100 autonomous-drive cars will be given to members of the public to be driven on real roads around Gothenburg, Sweden. Their experiences will be used to co-develop Volvo's cars.

The second part is a joint venture with Autoliv, the leading automotive safety technology company, to set up a new jointly-owned company to design and manufacturer separately-branded autonomous-driving and driver assistance software technology packages for sale to third party manufacturers.