Volvo
cars available all over the world including India are made differently. Volvo
is not only meets stringent global safety norms but goes into minute details
even when it comes to the quality of air inside the cabin.
You can be sure that air you breathe inside a
Volvo Car will definitely be cleaner that what you breathe outside. And outside
can be any part of India.
Volvo
Cars have for long developed two systems, Interior Air Quality System (IAQS)
and Clean Zone Interior Package (CZIP), with the sole objective to make the
environment inside the cabin cleaner than the air outside. This includes the
air entering via the climate system as well as the emissions from the materials
inside the cabin.
"Interest
in a clean in-cabin environment is growing among customers as well as among
decision makers," says Andreas Andersson, who is in charge of clean cabins
at Volvo Cars in Sweden.
"Several Asian markets have taken this
issue to a new level, with China, Japan and Korea indicating that they would
like to set new legal requirements. Customer interest is also growing both in
Europe and in the United States," he said
Volvo
Cars began testing in the mid-1990s in order to create an environment inside
the car that is safe for hypersensitive people. The Volvo S80, introduced in
1998, was the first model in which this work was clearly noticeable. Volvo Car Group's systematic work in this
area has resulted in the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association now
recommending seven Volvo models: the S80, XC60, S60 and V40.
Work
with the interior environment can be divided into two main areas: air quality
and contact allergies. To counteract contact allergies, the amount of nickel
released from metallic surfaces is minimised and the leather is tanned in a
chrome-free process.
IAQS
monitors the quality of the incoming air and automatically closes the air vents
if the levels of harmful substances become too high. A multi- filter removes
particulates and pollen but also uses a layer of active charcoal to remove
odours and ground-level ozone. The system automatically closes the air vents,
for example, when driving through a tunnel.
The
CZIP technology ensures that the air in the car is automatically vented out
within one minute from the time the car is unlocked with the remote control.
The CZIP system is recommended by the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association.
What
is known as the ‘new car smell' is actually low levels of emissions from
materials. The levels do not present a danger but on hot days, concentrations
that irritate hypersensitive people may occur. These substances are quickly
vented out of the cabin. Volvo Cars' objective is to avoid these odours
completely.
"We focus on the substances in the air
that people actually inhale. We carry out tests on component level as well as
on systems and on entire cars. No interior trim material is approved for use in
our car interiors until it has passed these strict tests," says Andersson.
Volvo
Cars has conducted sun simulation tests since 2000. As emissions are released
from the interior materials at high temperatures, the material experts use a
sunshine simulator at the Swedish Testing and Research Institute to verify low
interior emissions. The car is heated until the interior reaches a temperature
of 65º Celsius - simulating parking in summer sun on a hot summer's day.
The test programme also includes evaluations
by Volvo Cars Nose Team, whose members smell different objects to determine if
their odour is acceptable or too strong.
"Our
team consists of eight specially selected people with ‘standard' noses. Their
task is to guide the designers in their choice of materials and production
methods, especially for the interior of the car," says Andersson.
The
panel evaluates the smell from the interior trim items on a scale from 1 to 6,
on which ‘1' indicates ‘Not noticeable' and ‘6' is ‘Unbearable'. To secure
approval, the test ranking must not exceed ‘3', which is ‘Clearly noticeable,
but not yet unpleasant'.
Source: Volvo Cars Group, Sweden