Volvo, Maggetti Productions, Inc., and Ashley Fisher

An artist’s rendering of the Notion 26 interior.

8 much more photos in gallery

CAMARILLO, CALIF.—When folks imagine the future of self-driving automobiles, they might think of steering wheel-significantly less pods with swivel chairs and a lounge-like cabin atmosphere. Just system your location into the car and take a seat, as blissfully unaware of the ensuing traffic as you would be on a train.

But Volvo doesn’t agree with that vision, at least at this point. Speaking to a little gathering of journalists at its Motoring &amp Notion Center, a nondescript developing just off the 101 freeway, company executives maintained that men and women actually do want to drive—they just don’t want to drive when driving is boring.

Building on that belief, Volvo designed what it calls “Concept 26,” a re-imagined automobile interior with seats constructed for the autonomous car buyer who wants to drive a luxury vehicle occasionally, but who also desires to delegate the time spent commuting (26 minutes on average for the American driver, hence the name “Concept 26”). It’s critical to Volvo’s customers to be capable to drive their vehicles, Anders Tylman-Mikiewicz, the head of Volvo’s Monitoring and Concept Center, mentioned, but it’s also crucial that they “get the option to delegate driving when it’s boring.”