Volvo reveals Excellence Child Seat Concept
Volvo has built on the launch momentum of its all-new XC90 by rolling out its Excellence Child Seat Concept which attempts to reimagine how children might travel in cars in the future.
VOLVO ALREADY OFFERS integrated booster seats in many of its models, and now it wants to go one step further by showing off how it might fit an integrated baby capsule for infants into Volvo cars in the future. And, as a parent, I’ve got to say it looks pretty handy – up to a point, anyway.
According to the chief crayon twirler of Volvo interiors, Tisha Johnson, the aim was really around making life easier for parents. She said: “We started by asking ourselves if we could make life easier for parents and safer for their children when it comes to the child seat experience. We focused on 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 it to keep eye-contact with either the driver or the rear passenger and of course including enough storage for those vital child accessories, such as diapers, bottles, wipes, and so on”.
The idea itself, however, came from a Volvo owner when looking at the XC90 Excellence Lounge Concept which had the front passenger seat removed for more rear seat legroom. He pitched an idea of how the space left by removing the front seat could be better used.
The end result is a concept that allows parents to swivel the seat “counter-clockwise when seating the child and then lock the seat in a rearward facing position. The concept also 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”.
“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,” added Johnson.
“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,” concluded Tisha Johnson.
COMMENT: Obviously, there are flaws in the thinking because, what if you had twins? And, what happens when your child/children out-grow the capsule. Do you then have to sell the car, or take it back to the dealership for a regular front passenger seat to be installed?
That said, I don’t want to diss the idea too heavily, as it shows clever thinking by a manufacturer, to an actual real-world issue. It’s not about making the car faster, or more fuel efficient, it’s about making it more practical for owners, and that’s a good thing.
But, what do you think?
There’s no way I’d want my baby in the ‘suicide’ seat of the car! What a stupid concept. Why can’t that design be used in the back where they are much safer……why the front seat???
In AU, children under a certain age aren’t suppose to be in the front at all. Perhaps other countries don’t care and it will be a hit.