Safety, as usual
Volvo is not just interested in passing safety tests or topping safety charts. The safety engineers are concerned with more than bare figures. They are thinking of the millions of people who use the roads every day: ‘We want to find out how and why accidents and injuries happen, so that we can use technical solutions to prevent them in the future,‘ says Thomas Broberg, one of Volvo Cars’ leading safety engineers. What’s more, the company wants to inspire others to follow its goal of reducing the number of road traffic victims worldwide.

The centrepiece of the Safety Centre: two 108 and 154-metre-long test tracks. On these, the testers can crash cars with combustion and electric engines at speeds of up to 120 km/h. The highlight: the small track can be shifted up to 90 degrees. This allows the safety engineers to simulate accidents between two moving cars at different angles and speeds. For front, rear and side collisions, they use an 850-tonne crash barrier. And something that should not be missing in Sweden: a moose figure and around two dozen other fixed and movable obstacles. This also benefits Swiss drivers: according to Axa Insurance, 3,000 accidents involving wildlife occur in Switzerland every year.
This is how it works: dozens of high-resolution cameras film the crashes from a wide range of angles. Sensors on the car, dummy occupants and obstacles record the accident from start to finish. But that’s not all: there are thousands of computer-simulated tests for each vehicle model. The engineers use all this data to develop even safer cars. Thomas Broberg is convinced: ‘No matter what the accident scenario, here at the Volvo Cars Safety Centre we can recreate it and analyse it in detail.’ The safety expert is particularly impressed by one thing: ‘With every test and every analysis, we come closer to our goal: no one should ever lose their life or be seriously injured in a new Volvo.’

Crash tests are one thing. Inspired by the TV series CSI, Volvo’s accident research experts also investigate every real accident in Volvo’s home town of Gothenburg under the name CSI team (Crash Scene Investigators). They are deployed to the scene of the accident around the clock. There they examine the course of events in detail. And they pursue crucial questions: How are the people involved in the accident? How strong was the impact? How quickly did the safety systems intervene? What were the weather conditions like? What condition were the road markings in? Later, the team evaluates the police reports, contacts the driver and examines the car involved in the accident. If the parties involved in the accident agree, the accident researchers even view the medical records. Biomechanical experts and physicists then analyse the details of the injuries to determine their exact cause. All data is encrypted and anonymised before being forwarded to the Volvo product development teams. They use it to develop new safety technologies to ensure that Volvo continues to lead the way in automotive safety. For the accident researchers from Sweden, one thing is clear: serious injuries are much less common today than they used to be.
Due to their anatomy, women are generally at a higher risk of whiplash than men. But not with Volvo: the WHIPS whiplash protection system combines a robust head restraint with a clever seat design. This both supports and protects the head, neck and back. Another example: women’s skeletons are weaker than men’s. As a result, women are more likely to suffer chest injuries. To ensure optimum protection, Volvo has continuously developed its vehicle structure and introduced side airbags that minimise the impact on occupants.

When developing the head-shoulder airbag, the developers also took into account the fact that women are usually smaller: the airbag covers the entire window, thus protecting the head in the event of a side impact – regardless of body size. Together with SIPS and the side airbags, the head-shoulder airbags reduce the risk of serious head injuries by around 75 per cent. Special: Volvo wanted to learn more about accidents involving pregnant women. That’s why the company developed the world’s first virtual crash test dummy of a pregnant woman of medium height. The computer model shows the woman’s movement and the way in which the seat belt and airbag protect her and her foetus. Dozens of tinkerers and experts have been working for decades on revolutionary safety innovations and milestones in standard safety equipment.
radical: What special features have to be taken into account in terms of safety and safety tests for electric vehicles?
Thomas Broberg: Our goal is to make all our vehicles safe in real-world traffic, regardless of their drive system. With electric vehicles, of course, special care must be taken to ensure that the battery remains intact in the event of an accident to protect people. In the EX90, for example, the large high-voltage battery is safely embedded in the centre of the body structure under the floor. To provide additional protection, we have developed a unique safety cage specifically for the battery. It consists of a strong extruded aluminium frame designed to absorb and dissipate impact forces by directing the forces around the battery. The battery safety cage, which works according to the same protective principles as the safety cage for occupants, is an integral part of the body structure and is designed to improve protection in a variety of accidents, including variations in impact direction and with different types of vehicles and objects.

radical: The platform of electric vehicles must be particularly strong. Does this have an impact on safety?
Broberg: We apply the same rigorous Volvo safety standards in the development of all our vehicles. These are based on our real-life crash research, which we have been conducting for more than 50 years – whether they are fully electric, hybrid or combustion engine vehicles. They go beyond the requirements of ratings and standardised tests.
radical: Is the effort for crash tests higher for electric vehicles?
Broberg: To make our cars safe for real people in real life, we test and validate all our cars in a wide range of scenarios according to Volvo Cars’ safety standard, based on the knowledge we have built up by studying real-life accidents for more than 50 years. We apply the same principles to all our cars because electric vehicles would encounter the same constellation of road users in real traffic. All our cars are designed to protect people and what is important to them.
radical: There are always (stupid) rumours that e-vehicles catch fire more often. What do you say to that? And how can such fake news be eliminated?
Borberg: The concern is understandable given the high energy stored in the battery, but we don’t agree with the rumours. However, there is also a high energy content (fuel) in vehicles with combustion engines that needs to be protected. We build a safety cage for the battery in our electric cars as part of the body structure to ensure the integrity of the battery (as explained above), and the battery is designed so that it can be disconnected in just a few milliseconds in the event of an accident.

radical: Electric vehicles are (currently) heavier than vehicles with combustion engines. What impact does this have on other road users?
Broberg: While the battery adds to the weight of a car, it is also heavily influenced by the type of body and the use of materials, among other factors. As we work toward our goal of eliminating accidents altogether, our electric cars are equipped with cutting-edge sensors and collision avoidance technology to prevent accidents from happening in the first place. That’s because the road environment is inherently incompatible, with everything from cars of different sizes to large trucks and buses, as well as vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians. Furthermore, our cars are designed to both protect occupants and minimise the impact on other cars or road users in the event of an accident. For example, the front structure of the EX90 is designed to mitigate the impact on a lower car in the event of a collision, with a lower structure designed to support the load-bearing structure of a lower car.
radical: Current cars could already communicate with each other – does it work?
Broberg: We introduced the industry’s first ‘Connected Safety’ technology in 2016, which allows cars to communicate with each other and warn each other of slippery roads or hazards. These features are now available in compatible Volvo vehicles in Europe and the US.

This is one of the Volvo-stories from our print issue radical #2. All the content of radical #2: here (soon).
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