Volvo Desires to Enhance Driver Security with New Google Integration

When most individuals consider Volvo, they suppose security. Safety. Steadfastness. It’s the good-guy model, the one you deliver residence to mother as a result of he’s obtained all of it. He will not be the best man on the block however he’s obtained a gentle job and he treats you want royalty.

The Swedish model is taking a flip off its typical straight-arrow path with the C40 Recharge’s coupe-like styling, and it’s leveraging a brand new partnership with Google to be the primary automaker to straight combine with Google Assistant-enabled gadgets. That doesn’t imply Volvo goes wildly out of its consolation zone, however representatives informed me in Palm Springs that it’s making large strikes when it comes to electrification, sustainability, and know-how. The model that has constructed its fame on making sturdy, protected, boxy automobiles is increasing past bodily security into technological security.

Contained in the cabin, there’s a big, textured quantity button that’s a lot preferable to the tiny quantity buttons some automakers are transferring towards, however the structure is straightforward in nature. Drivers can arrange the display screen to position commonly-used options entrance and heart, and the I discovered the voice instructions to be spot on if I needed to activate my seat heater, change the temperature within the cabin, and get instructions. The one factor it was lacking was the flexibility to vary the Sirius channel with my voice, however Volvo says it’s engaged on that.

Volvo senior product supervisor Kristina Vasandani stated the model is embracing a minimalist strategy general and the latest automobiles are designed to be as streamlined as attainable.

“The Google digital assistant creates an intuitive expertise, however it’s additionally about security,” Vasandani informed me. “You’re in a position to actually focus on driving, arms on the wheel, and you may depend on the voice instructions that will help you with loads of the issues that would in any other case be distracting.”

In-car know-how is trending towards extra touchscreens and fewer buttons, and I’m not all the time on board with that. Some individuals imagine we’d like extra small screens as an alternative of bigger ones, and which will additionally make sense. What I like concerning the nine-inch infotainment display screen within the C40 Recharge is that it’s giant sufficient with out being distracting, and the 12-inch driver show provides an necessary backup aspect for navigation and offers data in a well-organized approach.  

Volvo simply introduced an revolutionary partnership with Starbucks to supply the primary open, public EV charging community on the Seattle-based chain’s espresso retailers. As much as 60 ChargePoint DC quick chargers can be put in about each 100 miles alongside a 1,350-mile route between Seattle and Denver, which is greater than sufficient to provide even skittish EV patrons some peace of thoughts.

That features drivers of the C40 Recharge, which has an estimated vary of 223 all-electric miles. Volvo’s planning to launch video-enabled YouTube within the C40 Recharge, which is designed to entertain drivers whereas charging up. As automakers race to give you the quickest charging options, this can be a intelligent stopgap measure, particularly contemplating each C40 Recharge comes with limitless cellular information.

Greater than a decade in the past, Geely purchased Volvo from Ford within the aftermath of the worldwide monetary disaster. The holding group pumped new life into the Gothenburg, Sweden-based firm and invested closely; Volvo has been displaying the outcomes of that assist within the final a number of years. And now, because it shifts towards bettering driver security via its know-how to reinforce its steel-bodied automobiles’ bodily safety, it has much more room to develop. If Volvo can get extra individuals to maintain their eyes off their telephones and screens, that might be a significant enchancment for all of us.

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