Following the launch of the new Volvo XC90 Excellence with Lounge Console Concept in Shanghai, the Swedish automaker came up with a solution for children to travel safely in cars in the future. It’s called the Excellence Child Seat Concept. According to Volvo, this seat was designed to provide three key benefits:
- Making it easier to get the child into and out of the child seat from an ergonomic and comfort perspective;
- Providing the child with a safe rearward facing seating position that enables him or her to keep eye-contact with either the driver or the rear passenger;
- Including enough storage for those vital child accessories, such as diapers, bottles, wipes, etc.
“For us the safety, convenience, and emotional factors outweigh everything else. Being able to maintain eye contact with your child from the rear seat, or being able to keep a bottle warm in the heated cup holders in the XC90 Excellence, would go a long way towards making life easier for parents taking their small child on a trip. Such alternative seating arrangements will become increasingly important as we move towards autonomous vehicles,” said Tisha Johnson, Chief Designer of Interiors at the Volvo Cars Concept and Monitoring Centre.
Volvo’s Excellence Child Seat Concept enables the parent to swivel the seat counter-clockwise when seating the child and then lock the seat in a rearward facing position. Moreover, it provides storage for small items beside the seat and a storage space underneath for diapers, blankets, or other larger items and enough space for a tote bag at the front of the seat under the dashboard. Finally, it provides a function to help small children safely lean back and sleep.
“We have been investigating the nature of progressive luxury for some time and we see a direct connection between luxury and emotional wellbeing. So we have taken the next step in redefining how the interior of a car can be used to suit our customers’ needs. We have always placed a great deal of importance on child safety, but this takes things to the next level,” added Tisha Johnson.
Right now, there is no indication that Volvo plans to mass-produce this innovative seat concept, but as is often the case ideas and systems will likely evolve and find their way into more mainstream applications, resulting in safer vehicles.
