“We make new technology commercially viable”
Ideas are constantly being born for new technology that can contribute to a safer world in which we as humans will be able to reduce our negative impact on the environment. The trick is being able to transform the ideas into viable solutions. We at the Volvo Group are good at this.
Development in information technology has significantly changed what is possible to achieve in the area of technology, particularly in the automotive industry. Today, there are examples of researchers and companies in, for instance, the telecom industry who built concept vehicles based on their perspectives and expertise. Many of the solutions could contribute to increased traffic safety and lower fuel consumption.
The common thread in all these concept vehicles is that they assist us in thinking innovatively and differently, but it is uncertain how many of them will become available in the market. The difficult part is not thinking innovatively, but making the new ideas industrially and commercially viable.
The Volvo Group launched in 2012 a website on the Internet, Tech World. Here, we open the door to some of the many research projects that we are currently conducting. It features many thought-provoking ideas about driverless vehicles, vehicle fuels from forest raw materials and how we can further increase production quality using smart phones.
The fact that most of these ideas will probably become a reality is what separates these concepts from many others. Within the Volvo Group, we have the strength and expertise to transform sound ideas into commercially viable solutions.
We are good at cooperating with subcontractors, customers, research institutes and social institutions. We have the ability to collect complicated systems from various areas and make them function jointly as one unit.
An excellent example is the Volvo Group’s hybrid solution. Hybrid variations have been around for a long time, but they have never been sufficiently efficient to justify the high price. Through proprietary research and broad cooperation with the most skilled people in the market, we have created a hybrid solution that will reduce fuel consumption in city buses by up to 37%, at the same time as we have managed to keep the price increase at a reasonable level.
Within a limited number of years, our customers will earn back the additional money they paid for a hybrid bus. This will be followed by profit thanks to lower fuel costs. Accordingly, an increasing number of customers worldwide are currently opting to purchase our hybrid buses. And, it is not only the customers who will benefit from this trend. We all will, thanks to significantly lower energy consumption and strongly reduced emissions.
People have a fascinating ability to constantly come up with new, smart ideas. We at the Volvo Group, along with our partners, are among the leaders in terms of concept development in the transport industry. However, expertise is also required to transform these ideas into something viable. We have this expertise in the Volvo Group.
Torbjörn Holmström
Chief Technology Officer, Volvo Group
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