The world’s second largest producer of trucks, the Swedish automaker Volvo, has revealed another Volvo part, a truck engine lineup that can run on renewable fuels. The automaker also called for more efforts to be done to make these renewable fuel sources be commercially available.

These green engines can be powered with the use of seven types of fuel, which ranges from man-made diesel to a mixture of hydrogen and biogas. The automaker said that since these types of fuels are made from renewable raw materials, then they do not add carbon dioxide to the ecosystem. This rising emissions of carbon dioxides is said to be the major cause of the climate change.

The Volvo Chief Executive Leif Johansson said that these engines are not yet being produced for the auto market but manufacturing could begin in a few years once the fuel becomes available.

In a news conference Johansson said that politicians and energy firms needed to do more to ensure that renewable fuels are developed further and made more available to consumers. He said, “The message here today is that, had the fuels been available, we (Volvo vehicles) cold have been carbon dioxide-free within just a few years.”

“We have significant problems finding commercially sensible volumes of fuel.”

There are still lots of efforts needed in order to create European, or preferably global, standards for renewable fuels and to guarantee their distribution, according to Johansson. He added that making green truck fuels available widely do not need to take a long time.

He said, “We are not very far from there today. There have been two concerns from the fuel industry. One has been that there won’t be any vehicles ready if they develop these fuels. We have tried to address that worry today.”

He added that more public investment in research and development about these new fuels is needed and also these fuels need to be promoted.

Research studies reveal that 90 percent of all traffic accidents are due to driver distraction. Swedish automaker Volvo is currently concentrating on developing an efficient technology that will help drivers combat road accidents that are caused by distraction or fatigue based on the statistics presented in the study. Volvo is launching a technology that’s a first of its kind, the Driver Alert Control (DAC) and also a Lane Departure Warning (LDW) system. It will be presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September. These two systems which will soon become one of the Volvo parts and will be available as an option priced at £500 on the all-new Volvo V70 and XC70 and the Volvo S80 at the end of 2007.

“Real life safety is the key to our safety philosophy. When it comes to preventative safety, we have the same approach as when we develop protective systems. In other words our research and technical developments focus on areas where new technology can create significant results in real-life-traffic,” says Ingrid Skogsmo, Director of the Volvo Cars Safety Centre.

One-of-its-kind technology

Volvo has made a lot of extensive studies on how drivers perform or operate when behind the wheel and that is why the Swedish automaker was able to develop the DAC, which is a world-first innovation. DAC does not monitor the human behavior as it varies from one person to another, and instead it monitors the car’s progress on the road. This is actually a more reliable source of assessment as it measures the impact of the fatigue or distraction has on the car’s motion. That way, it measures if the car is being driven at a controlled and well-paced manner.

This system deals with a lot of situations like when the driver is paying more attention in mobile phone conversation or distraction caused by the vehicle’s passengers.

The DAC system is composed of a camera seated between the windscreen and the interior rear view mirror, a number of sensors, and a control unit. The camera assesses the distance between the road lane markings and the car, and the sensors records the movements of the car. The control unit receives this information and calculates it to check whether the driver is already losing control of the car.

Assessing Risks

If the assessment reveals that a risk is high, the driver will be alerted through an audible signal. A text message and a coffee cup symbol also appear in the information display of the car to advise the driver to have a break. The driver can access this driving information throughout a journey, the start point is five bars and the less consistent the driving, fewer bar remains.

“It is, of course, always the driver’s responsibility to take a break when necessary, but sometimes you might not realize that you’re not alert enough to drive. In such situations, Driver Alert Control can help the driver make the right decision before the concentration level becomes too low,” concludes Daniel Levin, project manager for Driver Alert Control at Volvo Cars.

When Changing Lanes

The researchers at Volvo Cars estimates that the Lane Departure Warning (LDW) system can help prevent about 30-40 percent of accidents that are caused by single car road departures and head-on collisions. The LDW uses the camera that’s located between the rearview mirror and windscreen and observes the position of the car between the road markings. The system is activated through a button found on the center console and it gives a gentle warning sound if the car suddenly crosses the road markings and the indicator has not been used.

These two systems, the DAC and LDW are activated at the speed of 40mph and will stay activated as long as the speed remains above 37mph. These systems, however, depend on the number and quality of the road markings. These marks should be clearly visible as these systems may not work well in poor light, snow, fog, and extreme weather conditions

The Volvo S80 sedan AWD has undergone a number of updates on some of its Volvo S80 parts like no more bikinis, a lot more horsepower, and now with smarter designs. The fanfare about the updated design of S80 has mostly focused on the available V8 engine, which is a first for the Swedish automaker. The introduction of his V8 engine into the S80 is significant as the previous model had a turbocharged five-cylinder engine that’s a 103 horsepower less. The Volvo S80 has also a smarter interior design now.

Vehicles in the luxury segment tend to focus on putting in a simple amenity such as an air conditioner, then complicate it by adding sensors, have the driver control these sensors through a very confusing interface. Then, the automakers expect that when all these are over and done with, that the vehicle be considered as a desirable car.

But the fact on the matter is that there are a lot of car owners who just want to be able to drive comfortably and accompanied by music all throughout their journey. A lot of drivers do not want to have to study the owner’s manual just to get to the bottom of all the complicated stuff.

The new Volvo S80 veers away from that trend. Since this model is an all-wheel drive, four-door import with a starting price of $49,210, it’s just natural for it to be compared to other luxury vehicles but the Volvo displays more simplicity than the others.

The tested Volvo S80 was priced as $56,025 and it had an elegant light-tan interior. Sensuous curves seem to be the motif as the dash was a softly undulating console that reflected the curves if the headrests.

But the real good thing about the S80 and Volvo parts installed is the simplicity of their controls. Nearly all the function has its own button like there’s a knob to turn the AC heat up or down. There are also three buttons that are arranged like a human body, with head, torso, and feet, control where that air flows. There’s also a menu option which is labeled menu and it controls stereo balance and fade, and one can easily go in and out of the menu via the enter and exit buttons.

The safety elements of Volvo have also been upgraded like the air bags as they appear to have air bags, which is a technology that engineers of Volvo spend a lot of time on.

What really brings the fun though is the 4.4-liter engine (and an inline six-cylinder engine is also available), which delivers 311 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque. This power is channeled through the all-wheel-drive system with a bias to the front wheels.

The exterior design of the Volvo S80 is vaguely sporty, with more rounded corners unlike the traditional boxy type of exterior that Volvo has been known before.

Volvo S80 AWD Specs:
Power: 4.4-liter V-8, with 311 horsepower and 325 pound- feet of torque.

Drive train: Six-speed automatic transmission.

Speed: 0 to 60 in 5.7 seconds.

Best features: Excellent interior styling; the torquey new V-8.

Target buyer: A pragmatist who wants an uncomplicated yet still powerful daily driver.