Volvo isn't quite ready to show us, fully, its all-electric XC40 crossover yet, but it is happy to talk about some of its construction and show us some cutaway drawings of the vehicle's layout. Oooo, don't they look spooky? Like a ghost car...
One of the safest cars on the road
Volvo says that this XC40, which will be its first fully-electric car, will also follow in the staunch Volvo tradition of being one of the safest cars on the road. The Swedish car maker says that removing the engine doesn't, as you might think, automatically make it a safer car in a crash. Instead it actually brings a whole host of new challenges.
"Regardless of what drives a car forward, be it an electric machine or combustion engine, a Volvo must be safe," says Malin Ekholm, Head of Safety at Volvo Cars. "The fully electric XC40 will be one of the safest cars we have ever built. The fundamentals around safety are the same for this car as for any other Volvo. People are inside, and the car needs to be designed to be safe for them."
Entirely new front structure
To cope with the lack of an engine (which is in itself a crush structure of sorts), Volvo had to completely redesign the entire frontal structure of the XC40. This is not just to protect the car's occupants, but also to protect the battery pack, which is mounted under the XC40's floor. The battery is protected by its own safety cage which consists of a frame of extruded aluminium and has been embedded in the middle of the car's body structure, creating a built-in crumple zone around the battery. The battery's placement in the floor of the car also has the benefit of lowering the centre of gravity of the car, for better protection against roll-overs.
New active safety systems
The rear structure of the XC40 has also changed, to make better use of the way the battery is mounted and to improve rear-impact collision performance. Fully active safety is on the cards too. Volvo says that the electric XC40 will be the first car to get its new advanced driver assistance systems pack, co-developed with Zenuity, a technology company that Volvo part-owns. This pack includes radars, cameras, and ultrasonic sensors, and Volvo says that it's a scaleable system, so can be upgraded in the future to allow for more automation.
No word on prices, performance, nor range yet, but we'll keep you updated with those as we get them. We might even get to see what it looks like...