Reviewing the safety and connectivity technology of the Volvo V40

Highmotor has had the opportunity to get a first-hand look at the new safety and connectivity systems that Volvo fits to its compact model, the V40.

During an intensive training day, numerous journalists were able to see in depth how the Swedish brand is innovating in areas that are key today.

Safety

Volvo is known worldwide for many things, but there is one area in which it stands out considerably. We are talking about safety, a field in which the Swedes are the advanced students of the automotive market. The V40 is, today, one of the safest vehicles in the world, thanks to the application of its know-how in both active and passive safety systems.

The V40 incorporates systems that to this day remain unique in the market. One of the most representative is the pedestrian airbag. It is an air bag located in the lower part of the windscreen, below the wiper arms. When the V40 detects an impact with a pedestrian or similar -seven sensors spread across the front and the camera of the City Safety system take care of confirming it- the airbag deploys in a matter of milliseconds.

This action, carefully studied, significantly reduces the injuries suffered by pedestrians who are struck, since instead of hitting the glass or the pillars, they strike an airbag that absorbs a greater share of the energy of the impact. This system nevertheless still allows the driver to be seen and the vehicle to be stopped with confidence.

The City Safety is another key point within the V40’s safety shield. It is a camera located at the top of the windscreen, capable of recognising shapes and acting accordingly. This high-tech camera identifies cars, motorcycles and pedestrians. It also incorporates a filter capable of distinguishing red colours, in order to tell apart vehicles that are approaching from those that are moving away.

Depending on the traffic circumstances around it, this system is capable of stopping the vehicle at speeds up to 50 km/h, and of reducing its speed by 35 km/h down to approximately 100 km/h. As a result, serious injuries and accidents have a much lower incidence than in vehicles that do not fit these systems.

Working in combination with City Safety is also the active cruise control system, which regulates the speed of the V40 according to the vehicle ahead. When fitted with an automatic gearbox, the V40 is capable of coming to a complete stop and then pulling away again without any action required from the driver. This is known as the “Traffic Jam Assist”.

In addition, the Volvo V40 incorporates other systems such as the lane change assist, which is capable of correcting the vehicle’s trajectory if it is about to leave its lane. Another notable assistant is BLIS, which alerts us to the presence of a vehicle in our blind spot. This system uses two radars located in the rear corners, as well as a rear camera.

Also worth highlighting is the Cyclist and Pedestrian Detection System with Automatic Braking, which, as its name suggests, is capable of stopping the vehicle -or decelerating it as much as possible- if it detects a pedestrian or cyclist as an obstacle in the car’s path.
Also available on the Volvo V40 is the cross traffic alert (CTA) system.

Connectivity

The Volvo V40 also stands out for its high capacity to connect to the outside world through various systems, assistants and applications. Through the Volvo On Call system, in the event of an accident the vehicle sends an alert to an emergency centre, determining the position of the car, as well as the number of occupants and the severity of the incident, depending on the activation of various systems such as the airbags or the seat belt pretensioners.

Volvo also offers an app specifically designed for today’s smartphones within the Volvo On Call system to communicate with the car, so that at any time we can check its status and position, and even lock or unlock the vehicle if we have forgotten to do so.

Another particularly noteworthy feature is the possibility of adding apps to the vehicle’s operating system. With these, we can, among other things, browse the internet, listen to music via streaming or locate points of interest.

Source | Volvo