Category Archives: Volvo

Volvo’s slack wire stunt a hit

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Volvo will be rolling out its new FH-series truck on September 5, but the company has provided a sneak peek at the new tractors combined with an amazing stunt.

In the video, Faith Dickey, a young American who is the world record-holder in highlining, walks a slackline between two trucks driving at full speed. This really is something new: even Hollywood hasn’t tried this stunt.

The stunt was set up to show the precise handling of the new Volvo FH. It also shows the consummate skill of the drivers: Not only do they have to keep their big tractor-trailer rigs aligned, even through curves, they have to keep the trucks a constant distance apart on opposite sides of a median. If they get too close to each other the line becomes too slack and Dickey falls; if they drift too far apart, the line snaps and Dickey falls.

There’s also a time element involved. The action is filmed on an unopened highway in Croatia. Each truck is one one side of the divided highway that leads into a two-bore tunnel. Each rig will enter a different opening, snapping the line as they do.

The film was directed by Oscar-nominated Henry Alex Rubin (Girl Interrupted, Murderball) in cooperation with Hollywood stunt director Peter Pedrero (James Bond, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean).

The Future, Volvo Style

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Volvo Group* has launched a new website devoted to its ideas for the future.

The Volvo Tech World website (www.volvogroup.com/techworld)/ will be a showcase for the new technologies under development at the Swedish company.

Volvo spent more than $180 million on R&D in 2011 and its competitors shouldn’t expect easy, one-stop shopping for the company’s trade secrets, but Volvo says many of its ongoing research projects will be displayed on Tech World.

“Times are different and being open about where we are heading is now beneficial for us, our customers and society,” says Torbjörn Holmström, Volvo’s Chief Technology Officer. “We will have the greatest opportunity to address current challenges and those of the future through cooperation.”

The current entries are mostly overviews of various technologies, such as autonomous excavators, and green concepts like electric buses that charge in ten minutes, vehicle fuel from forest raw material, vehicles that communicate with each other, electricity generation from surplus engine heat, boat simulators and hybrid trucks running on special roads that use inductive charging to keep fuel consumption at a minimum.

Included is a discussion of one of Volvo’s favorite topics: increasing the maximum length allowed for combination trucks on European highways. Volvo has been pushing for the expanded limits for years, despite opposition from the European Union and the railroads.

Volvo has an ulterior motive for creating the website — recruitment of engineering talent. Volvo wants current and future engineers to get a taste of what is going on at the tech centers in Göteborg, Sweden, Lyon, France and Greensboro, North Carolina.

“Tech World clearly demonstrates the challenges and future prospects existing within the Volvo Group,” Holmström noted. “We hope to be able to show that Volvo Group’s engineers are world-leading in many areas and contribute significantly to creating a future in which the environmental impact is reduced and traffic safety is higher.”

*Volvo Group is the original company and produces trucks, buses, heavy equipment and marine propulsion systems. Volvo, the carmaker, is a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Co. and has not been part of Volvo Group since 1999.

Volvo wagon celebrates 50 years

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A press release issued fifty years ago today announced the first true Volvo station wagon. Two days later, the new car made its debut at the Stockholm Motor Show.

Before the Amazon 221, called the 122 in the U.S., there had been window versions of the Duett, a commercial vehicle derived from the Volvo PV544 but it wasn’t really designed for comfortable family outings. The Amazon 221 took the amenities of the Amazon sedans and added a fifth door and more cargo space.

As the company described it, “The new estate is a new Volvo model, for which the existing components of the Amazon have been used to the largest possible degree. The result is a fast and roomy passenger car with an extremely good load capacity. Four doors and a split tailgate enhance the positive character just as the design, the quality, the road manners and the overall economy. The aim has been to create a spacious family car for long-distance travelling and leisure needs – a functional car which can also be used professionally. It is called the Volvo 221 Amazon.”

Back in 1962, the Amazon wagon sold for the equivalent of about $3,200. It came with Volvo’s 75-horsepower four-cylinder, single carburetor B18 that gave the Amazon a top speed of not quite 87 miles per hour.

Passengers enjoyed features like fold-down seats, allowing a couple of adults to sleep in the car, and of course, like all Volvos, the Amazon wagon was built like a tank.

For only the first year of production, a special mist green paint was offered in combination with brown fabric-and-vinyl seating. However, customers seemed to prefer white, beige and blue.

The Volvo wagon was visually almost the same when it was replaced by the new 145 in 1969, but it wasn’t unchanged: in 1964 disc brakes replaced the front drums; seats were upgraded; the horsepower was bumped up to 115 in the dual-carburetor version. In the last year of production, the B18 engine was replaced by the new B20.

For a half-century, wagons have been a significant presence in the Volvo line but we won’t be seeing any more new ones, at least in the States; we don’t like station wagons. Faced with shrinking sales, Volvo has pulled the V50 from the U.S. lineup.

Volvo demonstrates new Road Train technology

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Volvo has released a short video demonstrating the progress in the SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) project. The video includes scenes from testing of road train with 3 and 4 vehicles in up to 90 km/h (about 56 mph) at Volvo’s Hällered proving ground in Sweden and interviews with project participants including Erik Coelingh – Technical Leader Safety Functions, Volvo Car Corporation, William Bird, Scientific Officer with the EU Commission, and Mark Garrett of Ricardo.

The concept involves a lead vehicle controlling a group of trailing vehicles, allowing drivers of those vehicles to enjoy other activities. It’s a new take on the old idea of automated highways but it involves a lot of faith in the lead driver.

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