Where do design ideas come from?
When we launched our first gen S40/V50 we invited media to Snoqualmie, Washington. The location was perfect for what we wanted to show. Our launch date coincided with mid-summer – big party time in Sweden – so Soren hired local Swedish dancers to help us put on a Mid-Sommer party, which also included lots of herring and other great food. Along with US staffers, we had our interior designer, José Diaz de la Vega, present the S40/V50 design and talked about what it meant for Volvo and our customers.
Since our drive route would take us over some really sweet mountains, nice lakes and beautiful country side, Jose and I partnered for each days “ride/drive.” I told Jose that I wanted to stop at a local rock and mineral shop, just to see what I could collect – yes I collect rocks, perhaps a few too many according to some. Jose bought some really interesting rocks because he “loved the texture.” Interesting…looking organically for ideas.
When I was doing some research the other day and looking for comments about our center stack, I was surprised at how some considered this a “signature” feature in Volvo cars. Amazing. If you think about other cars and what would be considered a signature feature…that’s tough. MB’s three-pointed star hood emblem, maybe. BMW propeller emblem, maybe. But what car has an interior feature that could be called out as representing a brand? None that I could think of.
Arne Jacobsen Bent Wood Chair 1955
Arne Jacobsen – Danish (1902-1971) (http://designmuseum.org/design/arne-jacobsen). Arne is known for his “Egg Chair” and other furniture that is pure Scandinavian Form and Function design language. We also took design cues from Bang & Olufsen’s remote control designs. Taking what is purely Nordic and creating timeless designs that add to an experience, enhance functionality, and that look darn good, takes constant thinking about how to make something elegantly simple.
So next time you look at one of our center stacks, check the surface texture and think of Jose and his rock from Washington state, and how our design team keeps our cars looking Scandinavian.
dan
Posted in design, Scandinavian Design | 1 Comment »News from the L.A. Auto Show
Showing off concept cars is all about getting closer and closer to something very real. It’s interesting how we conduct design studies and show them off just to get our hearts beating above 125 BPM. About this new concept, I say, “can I please see the production one. Please Please Please.” I guess we’ll just have to wait this out a tad bit longer. Darn that car concept looks great.
Here are some good comments about our future, from one of our biggest critics, Swedespeed.com:
The key points are – we are environmentally responsible with CO2 emissions, maintaining our unique Scandinavian design, and to no longer be stuck between Luxury and, for lack of better word, Standard cars. Hearing what Jacoby is thinking and seeing how he is creating an organization to turn thoughts into product, we truly are heading North. Going to be an interesting ride.
Currently, XC90 is our oldest model. Just one tough work horse that keeps selling. Seeing what was shown out at Volvo’s Monitoring and Concept Center in California, the old gray mare isn’t going to be like she used to be.
dan
Posted in Auto Shows, concept car, design, Designed Around You, LA Auto Show, luxury | Comments OffScandinavian Architecture
Growing up in the 60′s, Danish furniture was the in style. Teak desks with rounded corners and dressers with no handles – just hand holds carved out from doors or those really nice blended in recessed 1/2 round edges. The drawers worked so smoothly and there were no metal rails. Later in life, I learned that the NK department store group in Sweden, kind of like our Macy’s or Nordstrom’s, invented a dresser drawer design that was wood on wood runners/rails – simple and effective. Scandinavian Form and Function at it’s finest.
A wood working magazine had this to say about NK drawers:
- An easier to fit drawer
- Less wear and tear because the drawer sides don’t touch the carcase (case)
- Thinner drawer sides
- Less sticking, binding, etc related to the drawer sides not touching
I’d like to think what he said is applicable to how we look at cars with our Scandinavian design heritage. How everything works in harmony without adding substance. Swedish language has a word for this kind of attitude: Logum – meaning just enough.
Unless you have an opportunity to visit Sweden, you rarely see architecture that comes from Scandinavia. Here’s a great, free, on-line publication about Scandinavian architecture.
http://www.the-scandinavian.com/small/index.htm
dan
Posted in design, Scandinavian Design, Sweden | Comments OffLA Auto Show Was Electric
Been doing this show for longer than I care to remember, and I have never seen such excitement over a single breed of cars. Really, no one expects them to be our saving grace from global warming, but every bit helps. I have never driven one, until last week. Amazing to drive. Quite smooth, and very transparent technology. Talking with director of Volvo Cars Special Vehicles and head of the DRIVe C30 Electric project, Lennart Stegland, the whole concept is that the driver should not be required to think about anything except safety. Gosh … isn’t that what we’ve been doing for years, taking advances in technology without interfering with driver decision making?
This article is the best I’ve seen from LA show. I don’t think Leary had electric cars in mind when he said “Turn on, tune in, drop out” but works for DRIVe C30 Electric.
dan
http://www.plugincars.com/first-drive-volvo-moves-ahead-its-electric-sedan-video-106465.html
Brad’s statement about 100 cars being for for sale in the U.S. isn’t correct. IF we get any here, they will be test cars and at this point no decision has been made as to how that fleet will be handled. BUT, I’ve raised my hand for one to play with. 
Los Angeles Auto Show – Design Challenge
This concept design is stunning. I think the best part is removing safety systems, like heavy energy absorbing structures, instead shifting to preventative systems like we have today (lane departure, collision warning kind of stuff). Today’s alert technologies are just the beginning. In our classic Volvo car collection we have a 1927 PV4 – no front brakes, just rear brakes. Must have been an amazing advantage to finally get front brakes – and look what we can do with brakes today even use them for traction control and anti-skid system. I think what we have today in preventative systems is just the start of ways to avoid accidents. If we can avoid all accidents, would we need the use of Ultra High Strength steels? The future will be interesting.
dan
Posted in design, LA Auto Show, safety | Comments OffBest Review of Pedestrian Safety I’ve Seen
Very good description and demonstration by our Naughty Tour host.
Good holiday weekend to all our friends in the US. The rest of you…well it’s just two days to Monday.
dan
Posted in City Safety, design, distracted driving, news, pedestrian safety, S60, safety | Comments OffEvery Little Bit Adds Up – 2011 S60 Regenerative Charging
I was going though technical specs and found a bit of technology that’s rather slick. Regenerative Charging (RC) is used in our S60s electrical system to reduce carbon output and increase fuel economy.
RC is an intelligent control of the alternator charging function. By changing the alternator charge level parameters, when the driver uses the brake pedal, the alternator is signaled to start generating electricity. This takes unused engine horsepower and powers the alternator to charge the vehicle battery.
I asked Anders Wogel in our Rockleigh office to explain:
“A simple control strategy would be to ‘switch on’ the alternator only when the driver is braking and ‘switch off’ the alternator in all other situations. RC braking does require a BMS (Battery Monitoring System) to keep track of the battery condition. RC is used on vehicles with Start/Stop technology (part of the DRIVe concept in Europe).
Best regards Anders Wogel, QAT satellite EESE, EMS”
Anders further explained that the control strategy is if the battery needs more power during normal driving, the system reverts to conventional charging parameters. If the battery system is charged, we use a sliding curve algorithm that determines what to do between totally off and maximum charge output, to optimize Regenerative Charging opportunities to charge the battery.
RC is one of those clever little technological tweaks that helps reduce our carbon output – bit by bit.
Dan
Posted in design, Environment, General, S60 | Comments OffI Just Love Our Parking Lot – One Strange C30
Stumbling into work the other day, this C30 begged to be photographed. Tracking it down, Andrew Gallagher, one of our product guys, asked what I thought of the interior.
Some years back, probably around 1982 when we all had to wear suits, Bob Deutsch put together an “Ugly Tie Day” event for employees. I won more times than most. As Bob pointed out to me: ”As I recall, most of the time you won ugly tie day without realizing it was ugly tie day”, thanks Bob. I truly had ugly ties. But they were different, bold colors, strange patterns, just weird. So asking me an opinion on interiors is, well, a stretch. I do love this C30.
I offered Andrew this forum to see what others might think. I know there are a couple thousand out there reading this … simple yes/no and/or comments would be great.
What you are looking at is actually a seat that is currently offered only in Europe. The orange material is a fine interwoven cloth, the black surrounding it is made out of T-Tec. T-Tec is the same material that is used in surfing attire, kind of like my 5/4/3 wetsuit, only much nicer. There is an ongoing investigation for offering an Orange Flame metallic paint exterior with this two toned orange/black seat interior.
Question 1:
If Volvo was to offer a special edition C30 with only Orange Flame metallic paint, orange cloth/T-Tec seat, Sirius Satellite, high performance sound (not Premium Sound previously branded as Dynaudio) a 17″ new rim, what are your thoughts?
Question 2:
Would you need an available automatic trans, climate package, or bi-xenons?
Don’t expect a surprise package of pickled herring for answering, just our appreciation for your taking time to comment.
dan
ps: I think around 1978 we launched one of rarest cars ever (second only to the P1900 that we made 58 of): a 244 California car. White trim, white paint, white grill, white interior. All it needed was ‘made by Amana’ on it. Now, not wanting to repeat ourselves, here’s your chance to chime in or we just might do this again
Just found this review from 5th Gear out of the UK: (the engine she is testing is not our T5 with 227 HP and 236 lb.ft. of torque)
Posted in C30, contest, design | 70 Comments »
