Volvo S80 2013 News

Volvo is working on technology that could replace the heavy batteries used in cars. The research, being undertaken with a collection of research groups headed by the Imperial College, London, has been under way for three years.The latest result could save weight and space in both conventional and electric cars, with an energy storage solution that ditches traditional bulky battery and super capacitor systems. The invention is a new material that blends nano structured batteries and super capacitors together with carbon fibre, and which can then be shaped to become a car's body panels, such as the doors, wheel arches and boot lid.The researchers have used the process to build a Volvo S80 prototype, with the material forming the boot lid and the bonnet. They've started with nano structured batteries and super capacitors, sandwiching them into the material and then preforming it to fit car panels.These can be recharged -- either by plugging into mains power or capturing and storing brake energy -- and send the energy to an electric motor that drives the car wheels.The system can store enough energy to start a conventional car engine and power its 12-volt system, essentially replacing the standard battery.In electric cars, it would offer massive weight and space savings over the weighty battery packs usually required to power them, with a car carrying the new panels as doors, bonnet and roof said to get a range of about 120km.The weight and space benefits of the panels are enhanced by the material's strength, with the prospect that it can replace some structural parts of the car, such as suspension components.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

Afzal Kahn has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds building up one of Britain’s most impressive private plate collections.  And the most desirable of the registrations is his beloved 'F1', which currently sits on the front of his Bugatti Veyron supercar.The entrepreneur caused a stir when, in 2008, he paid a staggering £440,000 ($765,300) for the cherished plate -- a British record. But it’s proven to be a savvy investment with the plate’s value increasing by more than ten times after one ultra-rich individual offered £6million for it.Drivers in the United Arab Emirates are even more fanatical about personal registrations. The single digit ‘1’ sold in February 2008, for £7.25 million ($12.61m) , reportedly to Abu Dhabi businessman Saeed Khouri, then 25.Personal plates can be a good investment, if you make the right choice. VIP 1, which originally belonged to Pope John Paul II’s Popemobile, was bought for £62,000 ($107,840) in 2004 – two years later Roman Abramovich bought it for £285,000 ($495,730).However, Mr Kahn, who runs A Kahn Design in Bradford, rejected the offer believing it is worth considerably more. Indeed, he has no pressing need for new cars, with our pictures also showing him posing with the plate attached to his Mercedes SLR McLaren. Mr Khan's refusal to sell the plate means that he still likely holds the record for spending the most money on a UK registration plate.A spokesman for Mr Khan's company said: 'We have received a significant multi-million pound offer for the F1 plate which we rejected out of hand. Mr Kahn has no interest in selling F1, which is his favourite plate. Cherished number plates, unlike property or other investments tend not to fluctuate in value, they only go up. It really shouldn’t be a shock to people that the number plate is worth millions of pounds.'The 109-year-old registration was on a modest Volvo S80 when Kahn bought the plate in 2008. It was used by the chairman of Essex County Council with the local authority using the funds from the sale to raise money for a charity which aimed to raise the standards for young drivers. 'F1' now makes up part of Mr Kahn’s impressive plate collection which includes the registrations ‘4HRH’ and ‘NO1’.  

But Volvo points out it's not alone and won't be the first European to use China's enormous manufacturing and labour expertise to make vehicles for smaller markets such as Australia.Volvo Cars product strategy vice president Lex Kerssemakers says it was "likely'' that cars would be made in China but insists there would be no difference in quality or performance."I can see Volvo cars for Australia coming from China,'' he says. "The only issue may be customer perception. But China makes the S80 for its own market that is equal in quality to the S80 that we make in Sweden. Quality is not an issue.'' Mr Kerssemakers says Volvo was "a small car manufacturer''. In an interview at the launch of the latest V40 small car in Geneva, he says: "We don't source parts from different manufacturers because we can't afford to.''"So all components that would go into a Volvo car built in China would be exactly the same as the components that went into a car built in our Swedish or Belgium factories. The way the car is made also would be no different. But the savings in distribution and duty (taxes) as well as the time frame make it very attractive."Customers don't really care where a car is made. They do care about quality, performance, reliability and so on. That wouldn't change.''Volvo currently makes two cars in China and all are only for domestic sale. The cars are a long wheelbase version of the S80 - which is exclusive to China - and the S60. The V40, revealed this week at the Geneva motor show, will also be built in China. Mr Kerssemakers says part of the reason Volvo is looking at increasing the number of its factories was to cope with predicted sales growth."We aim to sell 800,000 cars a year within a few years,'' he says. "Of that, 600,000 cars would be made in Europe and 200,000 in China. "Geely (the Chinese parent of Volvo) wants us to be financially self-sufficient and there's no hand-out from Geely. So we have to very carefully plan how we do business.''But he says that if the sales figures change and the need to build cars for export in China is reduced, Volvo wouldn't do it. However, given the upbeat predictions for the V40 small car, Mr Kerssemakers admitted that a China solution was "likely''.

The car brand trumpeted as the world's safest will catch up with the pack next month. Volvo is at last making sure every car it sells in Australia is equipped with ESP and traction control as standard. It has yet to confirm details of the ESP upgrade, including prices, though all Australian cars coming off the production line this month – which means deliveries in June once they are shipped from Sweden – will have the system. “We can confirm that dynamic stability control and traction control will be standard on all Volvo models from May production,” says Laurissa Mirabelli of Volvo Cars Australia. While Volvo is talking up its ESP upgrade, it is also working to finalise details of next year's model line-up after an upgrade last week in Europe. They should be here by October, and the all-new XC60 all-wheel-drive wagon will be the headliner. The most obvious change, on everything from the baby C30 to the C70, is a larger Volvo badge on the boot. It picks up the prominence of the badge on the XC60 and the latest mid-sized wagons. The only other change across the range, though not confirmed for Australia, is exterior mirrors that fold flat for parking. “There will be some minor changes to Volvo's MY09 line-up this year, as there is with its models every year,” Mirabelli says. “The MY09s won't be here until much later this year and we're not in a position to confirm the extent of the changes yet, given we're still going through the business case process.” She says there are only minor tweaks to the range, apart from the XC60, and nothing big on the technical front. In Europe, there are minor tweaks to nine models and one of the best is an optional system called Homelink. It uses buttons integrated into the sun visor to operate remote-controlled home appliances such as garage doors, house alarms and lighting. There is an upgrade of the optional satellite navigation on the S40 and V50, a hard load cover is now standard on all C30s and the climate control is upgraded in the C70 with the addition of the Powershift gearbox already fitted to the C30, S40 and V50. The S80 flagship gets heated washer nozzles and chronograph-style dials in the dash.  

Sales of the S80 had been declining sharply over the past couple of years from a peak of 364 in 1999 - the first full year of sales - to a paltry 44 last year before the decision was made to hold the car back until the new model was available. Volvo Australia spokesman Todd Hallenbeck says the ability to launch the revised S80 with a proven V8 engine - the Yamaha-sourced 4.4-litre unit from the top-selling XC90 - and a well-sorted six-speed automatic gives the car a new relevance to buyers here. "We are not expecting to sell huge numbers but around 500 a year is a nice target. At $95,950 for the V8 it sits well against other luxury V8 sedans," Hallenbeck says. The transverse alloy 4.4-litre V8 in the new S80 is the same 232kW and 440Nm unit used successfully in the XC90. For the V8 model, AWD will come standard. Also available will be Volvo's well-tested 2.4-litre five-cylinder TDi with 136kW and 400Nm priced at a sharp $71,960 and expected to account for a majority of sales after an initial rush for the V8. A 3.2-litre in-line six is also available but Volvo Australia will wait and add it to the mix next year. Designed by Peter Horbury, the S80 retains most of the major design cues of the original car - prominent rear hips, upright Volvo grille and boat shape outline from above. However, there are more differences than similarities. The new S80 looks much tauter than its predecessor, with a more integrated roof profile, larger wheel arches filled by 19-inch wheels and the general impression of being a more compact car, despite actually growing slightly. Inside, the S80 borders on Swedish minimalism. There is the floating centre console from the S40 and V50, a tasteful brushed aluminium trim, clear instrumentation with Volvo's patented easy-to-use knobs and ergonomic seats. While it all works fairly well, there is little that will set the emotions bubbling. The main instruments are analog, with needles pointing to the perimeter and digital messages at the centre. Most functions are controlled via buttons, a four-way switch pad, and a small screen on the centre console. The screen for the optional navigation system pops up at eye level from the top of the dash. The end result is impressive, polished by the inclusion of some fairly sophisticated electronic wizardry in the Four-C chassis active damping technology -- standard fare on the V8 for Australia. The comfort setting is likely to be a little soft for most Australian applications, with sport the favourite for day-to-day running. A further tightening of the parameters is available with the advanced option which will tie-down body-roll and sharpen damper response to a degree that outstrips the S80's slightly disappointing steering. Although it is not actually vague, the steering feedback is sluggish and under pressure can feel a little dissociated from the action. But the chassis performance is crisp and the road-holding impressive.