Carmaker Volvo announced in 2008 that by 2020, no one would be injured or killed in a crash with a new Volvo. A few years later, that promise was watered down: it would result in nothing but mortal wounds. And now, two years after the deadline, CEO Jim Rowan is even more reluctant when our automotive editors confront him with the broken promise.
Jim Rowan, CEO of Volvo, does his best to explain why his brand it actually promised too much at the time. It can be seen that he feels a little uncomfortable. Rowan bends down and accompanies his explanation with busy hand gestures: ,, So we literally said: it’s our ambition. We never said it would become a fact. But with the safety technology in our new top-of-the-range EX90 model, we’re really getting closer to that goal.
“We can reduce serious crashes by 20 percent with the systems in this new car. But we can never guarantee zero casualties. Because if you’re in a parked Volvo and a garbage truck drives into your house, it can still be fatal. We really can’t prevent something like this. Either way, we want to be the safest car brand in the world.”
With the new top model EX90, Volvo is actually taking the next step in making cars safer. The manufacturer wants to save even more than a million lives, thanks to advanced safety technology. Saving more than a million lives – sounds like a lot, if not impossible. but Volvo has also been doing it since 1959, says the Swedish brand. It was then that Volvo introduced the three-point seat belt. Since the patent was also issued immediately for other manufacturers, it soon spared many injuries and deaths among the occupants of the passenger cars.
Invisible “Security Shield”.
Volvo has always prided itself on being a safe car brand throughout its 95-year history. And although a brand like Mercedes, for example, really invests no less in safety technology, Volvo occasionally dares to claim victory over all competitors. With the new EX90, Volvo once again proves that it is a trendsetter with the “invisible safety shield”, as the brand calls it. Lidar (laser radar) built into the roof above the windshield reveals the impressive arsenal of safety systems. That doesn’t look very nice; it is as if an accessory had subsequently been placed on the roof.
This lidar can see 250 meters ahead, even in the dark. It can identify all possible objects, people or animals, even their size is immediately clear. It does this by projecting invisible laser beams onto the environment countless times per second. Each reflected ray forms a point in the computer image. All the dots together create a detailed 3D drawing of everything around the car. The technology is complemented by cameras, ultrasonic sensors, high-speed computers and intelligent software, using technology from the gaming industry. With all this, the car constantly looks around 360 degrees and intervenes as soon as danger threatens.
Low sun or complete darkness
“Lidar makes possible something that was previously impossible,” says Jim Rowan. “In complete darkness or when blinded by the low-lying sun, this car can still recognize danger up to 250 meters away. It is precisely at night that many serious accidents occur because visibility is much poorer and people are tired. Research also shows that they are less aware of the dangers because it is very quiet on the road. When you see you’re about to collide with something, there’s often not enough time to prevent it with the brakes. The result is fatal injuries or injuries that change your life forever.
“Is this technology leading us to zero fatalities? Honestly, I don’t know, but that’s our intention nonetheless. This time we mainly invested a lot of time and money in software that we developed ourselves. Almost all of the hardware in a car these days comes from suppliers. The trick is to connect all the equipment together and make it work as well as possible with intelligent software.”
Monitored occupants
With the arrival of the new top model, the occupants are also monitored for the first time. The EX90 “sees” when the driver is distracted, tired or otherwise distracted. The system will alert you first subtly and then more alarmingly. If the driver loses consciousness or falls asleep, the car will stop safely and call the emergency services.
Passengers or, for example, a pet in the car are also constantly monitored. If the driver forgets on a hot day that there’s still a child or dog in the back seat, for example, the car itself will turn on the climate control to prevent suffocation.
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