Usually, vehicles introduced at an auto show look their best in order to impress the media and the public. An auto show is meant to present all of this year’s available vehicles for sale under one roof to help the consumer compare cars and make the right decision on what to buy.
This year in Detroit, Volvo decided to flaunt a smashed-up car.
That should get car buyers’ attention. Seriously, one of the safety concerns about the eventual purchase of an electric vehicle is what will happen to it if it’s involved in a collision. Car-safety pioneers Volvo is showing the public how one of their C30 Electric test vehicles fared after an accident.
The C30 Electric underwent an offset frontal collision test at 64 km/h, or 40 mph. Basically, the car’s batteries and cables remained entirely intact. An important factor when designing the C30 Electric was separating the lithium-ion batteries from the crumple zones as well as the passenger compartment. The battery pack was fitted in the space reserved for the fuel tank in regular C30 models, and reinforcements were added around it for extra protection from impacts.
All the cables are shielded. The same crash sensor that triggers the airbags also cuts power through the system in 50 milliseconds. If a damaged cable comes into contact with the car’s body frame, fuses will immediately be tripped.
In short, Volvo claims the C30 Electric is as safe in a collision as a regular model equipped with a combustion engine. The car has also been subjected to other crash scenarios such as side and rear-end impacts, and the results ended up being exactly what Volvo engineers had planned.
“In Detroit, we are the first car maker to show the world what a truly safe electric car looks like after a collision with high-speed impact," said Volvo Cars' President and CEO Stefan Jacoby.
This year in Detroit, Volvo decided to flaunt a smashed-up car.
That should get car buyers’ attention. Seriously, one of the safety concerns about the eventual purchase of an electric vehicle is what will happen to it if it’s involved in a collision. Car-safety pioneers Volvo is showing the public how one of their C30 Electric test vehicles fared after an accident.
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| Photo: Volvo |
The C30 Electric underwent an offset frontal collision test at 64 km/h, or 40 mph. Basically, the car’s batteries and cables remained entirely intact. An important factor when designing the C30 Electric was separating the lithium-ion batteries from the crumple zones as well as the passenger compartment. The battery pack was fitted in the space reserved for the fuel tank in regular C30 models, and reinforcements were added around it for extra protection from impacts.
All the cables are shielded. The same crash sensor that triggers the airbags also cuts power through the system in 50 milliseconds. If a damaged cable comes into contact with the car’s body frame, fuses will immediately be tripped.
In short, Volvo claims the C30 Electric is as safe in a collision as a regular model equipped with a combustion engine. The car has also been subjected to other crash scenarios such as side and rear-end impacts, and the results ended up being exactly what Volvo engineers had planned.
“In Detroit, we are the first car maker to show the world what a truly safe electric car looks like after a collision with high-speed impact," said Volvo Cars' President and CEO Stefan Jacoby.