COVER Volvo tech ready for take-off
PLANE? TRAIN? AUTOMOBILE We get an exclusive look around Volvo’s radical 360C Concept set to take on planes and trains
Swedes’ autonomous vision to rival airlines and train operators
“THERE has to be a better way than this.” These were the words of one regular air traveller to Volvo’s senior vice-president of design Robin Page as they both queued at London Heathrow Airport security – and the words that inspired Page to get back to the office and start designing a better way.
The result is the Volvo 360C concept – a vehicle that Volvo claims could transform it from a traditional car maker into a transport firm rivalling airlines, train companies and bus operators with a firstclass, door-to-door service. Auto Express was invited to sit back and relax in the 360C and learn more about Volvo’s vision of the future of transport.
Autonomous cars are nothing new, of course. We’re currently at level two autonomy, with the driver still in control and the car taking care of steering, braking and accelerating. But the 360C concept previews a time (that could be 10 years or more away) when level five autonomy means the car does everything; there’s not even a steering wheel.
“This is about having empathy for the traveller,” Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson tells us. “This is what happens to the car when we apply new technology.”
The 360C is roughly Xc90-sized, but with no engine needed, the A-pillars have been pushed far forward to maximise cabin space. Yet Page and his team have still infused the car with Volvo design DNA, such as the Thor’s Hammer front lights and stepped lighting at the back. Page describes the look of the car as a “friendly giant”.
The exterior has been designed to communicate with other road users, with a wraparound LED light band that glows turquoise when it’s driving and can change colours to show its intentions to those nearby.
Light changes are accompanied by a series of noises, too, while the body could even move on its suspension to show what it’s about to do next.
“Mis-communication is a major factor in collisions,” Mikael Ljung Aust, Volvo’s technical safety expert, tells us. “After an accident, people often say, ‘I thought they were going to do something else.’ This isn’t about our car telling other people what to do; it’s about it letting people know what it’s going to do.”
Volvo has analysed the kinetic body language of humans – the intuition we all have that prevents us
from bumping into each other as we walk down the street – and applied that to the 360C. “Kinematic language is much easier to implement from an engineering perspective,” says Ljung Aust.
Volvo is so convinced this is the right way to go with autonomous technology that it’s calling for a global standard. “We strongly believe this communication method should be a universal standard, so all road users can communicate easily with any autonomous car, regardless of which maker built it,” says Malin Ekholm, vicepresident at the Volvo Cars Safety Centre.
She believes that persuading other car makers to follow Volvo’s lead shouldn’t prove too difficult. “Everyone wants the same thing: safer roads,” Ekholm explains. “Our research and data will help us persuade other car makers to follow our ideas.”
Inside the 360C there’s further innovation. There will be one body style, but potential buyers – likely to be companies like Uber or Lyft – can specify different interiors, based on four different needs. An office environment will take care of the commute and allow for meetings on the go, a living room theme is more relaxed, and an entertainment space allows you to continue the party on the way home from a night out.
Perhaps most intriguing of all, though, is the sleeping environment, providing an airline-style first-class seat that turns into a bed at the touch of a button. As with the other three options, you’ll organise your ride via an app on your smartphone,
“Whether you choose the office, the living room theme, the entertainment space or the sleeping environment, you’ll organise your ride via an app on your smartphone”
Passengers sleeping from door to door in 360C can pack belongings and even order breakfast but you’ll also be given the opportunity to order dinner and breakfast, which will be pre-loaded into a special compartment in the car.
There’s space to pack your overnight belongings, while a pillow, blanket and even a teddy bear are stored in a further compartment. To help you drift off, you can also project images of stars or the Northern Lights onto the embedded screen in the roof.
Of course, lying flat and sleeping does raise one issue that’s core to Volvo: safety. That’s why Volvo’s senior technical safety expert, Lotta Jakobsson, is working on a smart blanket that incorporates clever safety tech. “The blanket itself is a safety system,” she says. “It’ll incorporate straps that in a crash would drag you down safely into the bed, securing your torso and pelvic bones. Your sleeping position will be monitored and the blanket automatically adjusted to make sure you’re properly protected as you sleep.”
“We’re targeting short-haul flights mostly,” Robin Page tells us. “Even for a one-hour flight you can spend four or five hours travelling to the airport, going through security, flying, then getting out of the airport and to your destination at the other end. We’d be offering a door-to-door service.”
One person who should know is Volvo’s futuregazer-in-chief, Mårten Levenstam, senior vicepresident in charge of product strategy & business ownership. Former aeronautic engineer Levanstam is now charged with making cars like the 360C a reality.
“In the US alone, there are 740 million domestic flights every year, and globally there are one million people in the air at any one time,” says Levanstam. “These are people who don’t enjoy themselves – so
“The blanket will incorporate straps that in a crash would drag you down safely into the bed, securing your torso and pelvic bones” LOTTA JAKOBSSON Volvo senior technical expert
it’s a big opportunity for us. The cost of planes is huge, too – around $1million [about £773,000] per seat to buy a plane. A brilliant Volvo car costs less than $10,000 [£7,730] per seat.
“Short-haul is particularly inefficient on fuel, too,” he adds. “You take off, climb, barely reach cruising altitude and then start the descent; it’s much worse than a plane cruising on a long-haul flight.”
One of the key barriers to all this, though, is global legislation and the acceptance across different countries – and different regions in single countries – that autonomous cars can take to the roads and share space with conventionally-driven cars. Levanstam is convinced it’s a problem that will be overcome. “The potential benefits are huge,” he says. “It can provide a real societal shift that can solve a lot of problems and cure a lot of ailments.”
Sadly, though, it’s not likely to happen any time soon – although Volvo will be working with stakeholders including local authorities and even other car makers to try to make it happen.
Pushed for a timescale, Page thinks we’re over a decade away from having cars like the 360C whisk us from London to Edinburgh overnight. “Designwise, it could be ready by 2025,” he said. “But with legislation? 2030 is more realistic.”