Volvo at the Auto Moto d’Epoca exhibition: technology, safety and environmental friendliness yesterday and today October 30, 2023 0

AME, the Auto Moto d’Epoca exhibition, took place this year. return of Volvoprecisely in the first edition, in which the event was transferred from Padua to Bologna.

For Volvo, this was an opportunity to tell a lesser-known story that traces a thread called “sustainability” between past and present. If the Volvo EX30 and Volvo EX90 are in fact the company’s offerings for the future, both focusing on limiting CO2 emissions throughout the vehicle’s lifecycle, including production, then in fact some concepts from the past have already laid the foundations for this philosophy.

1972, Geneva Motor Show. VESC was introduced in this context and was a prototype that anticipated the safety-related solutions that Volvo would then adopt as standard in subsequent models.

Compared to the norms of the time, the Volvo VESC was built to stricter safety standards, and in 1974 the Volvo 240 debuted, based on the lines envisioned by Volvo’s experimental safety car, starting a story that would become a reality 19 years later. 2.9 million units produced and sold.

VESC debuted semi-passive seat belts (electronic, the front ones wrapped around the passengers’ bodies when the car was started), airbags (both front and rear), and airbags for the passengers’ heads. rear (previously there were no head restraints), automatically lifting front head restraints, folding steering wheel, headlight washers/wipers, various optimizations in the body (front and rear deformability, reinforced cell, side anti-burglary bars, etc.), anti-lock brake system, self-leveling suspension and audible warning when reversing. There was also a rear view camera connected to cathode ray tube monitor inside the passenger compartment.

VESC was also the predecessor to exhaust gas recirculation and catalytic converter systems (introduced in subsequent models).

Another prototype on display is called the Volvo ECC. This concept 1992a car that would later serve as inspiration for the 1998 Volvo S80.

In an era where there was no talk of sustainability as there is today, ECC introduced the use of lightweight, highly recyclable materials, hybrid engine with gas turbine and electric motorreduced weight a only 1580 kga traffic update system on the display to optimize routes and consumption, as well as materials selected to minimize the environmental impact during production and processing.

There is also a strong focus on efficiency, thanks to a CX aerodynamic coefficient of 0.23, and obviously on safety, thanks to the introduction of a side impact protection system.

The Volvo EX30 combines the heritage of the two concepts and the entire history of the Swedish manufacturer, now acquired by China’s Geely, for a car that promises the lowest CO2 emissions of any Volvo model produced to date.

The stated data is interesting: from production to use, less than 30 tons of CO2 are emitted (per 200,000 km). His strengths? A quarter of all aluminum used is recycled, and the recycling rate for steel is 17%. Inside the car there is 70% recycled polyester for various parts of the interior.

The EX30 debuts in Italy at a price of 35,900 euros. in the version with input battery, this figure can be reduced by another 5,000 euros thanks to incentives EcoBonus with recycling. It will hit dealerships in early 2024, but pre-orders have already sold 1,400 units.

The Volvo EX90, on the other hand, brings together all the innovations in the field of active safety as it integrates 16 ultrasonic sensors, 8 cameras, 5 radars and Lidar which recognizes the tire on the road 300 meters away and at night. In addition, there are 2 infrared sensors to monitor the driver’s psychophysical state and radar inside the cabin that can detect movements in millimeters like the breath of a sleeping child. If we ignore the warnings, the car leaves the doors open and turns the climate control to a comfortable temperature, while continuing to send us notifications through the smartphone app.