Volvo is all set to transition into the electric future with its XC40 and is all geared up to introduce its first fully electric vehicle in October 2019.
The Swedish carmaker claims that it will be as safe as any other Volvo, safety being the company’s foundational utmost priority for the company historically.
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“Regardless of what drives a car forward, be it an electric machine or combustion engine, a Volvo must be safe. The fully electric XC40 will be one of the safest cars we have ever built,” said Malin Ekholm, Head of safety at Volvo Cars.
The company has deemed that their engineers have completely redesigned and reinforce the frontal structure in order to make it as impact resistant as a conventional Volvo with combustion motor in the engine bay and compensate the additional rigidity.
The rear of the SUV also gets reinforced structure to balance the impact absorption throughout. To keep the battery intact in case of an unfortunate collision, Volvo has developed a new safety structure for the battery pack. It is shielded in a battery cage, the frame of which is made of extruded aluminium and it has been embedded right in the middle of the SUV’s body structure, creating built-in crumple zones around the battery pack. Moreover, it also helps in lowering the center of gravity for improved handling and better protection in case of a roll over.
The XC40 electric will be the first Volvo to feature the Advance Driver Assistant System (ADAS) technology the software of which has been provided by Zenuity. It is a modern and scalable active safety system that uses an array of radars, cameras and ultrasonic sensors and since it is scalable, it can also be used in the autonomous driving tech in future.