Volvo Cars has released details of its Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), a combination of body structure and integrated electronic safety systems. The purpose is not just to protect car occupants from the consequences of an accident but to prevent collisions in the first place. SPA is part of Volvo's aim that by the year 2020 no-one will be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo.
At the heart of the SPA is a safety cage that uses a mix of steel grades to provide extra strength. More use has been made of hot-formed boron steel; for example, the body of the original XC90 used seven per cent boron steel, but in the all-new XC90 that has increased to 40 per cent. The result is increased strength without any penalty in weight.
Volvo has also designed a 'nerve system' to integrate the various electrical components in a network under the control of four 'domain masters' managing vehicle dynamics, safety, car body and infotainment. Every unit in the architecture can be controlled by any domain master and the system is designed to make it easy to take advantage of new sensor, microprocessor and camera technology.
To provide 360 degrees of protection a range of sensors and features monitor the vehicle's surroundings and intervene to protect the car's occupants. Current technologies include automatic braking and steering as well as a smart seatbelt pre-tensioning system. SPA is also designed to support autonomous driving and car-to-car communication to share information about traffic conditions.
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Proving Volvo's current safety credentials, STRADA (Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition) released data showing that its modern vehicles have 60 per cent lower injury rates in Sweden compared to other vehicles of a similar age.