Fwd Platinum (nav) Mgr Demo on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Volvo makes the XC60 disappear into art

For the last few years, Volvo has set up an art display in the Zurich, Switzerland central train station called the Volvo Art Session, allowing select artists - both established and up-and-coming - to create temporary exhibits with one of Volvo's products acting as the centerpiece. This year, six artists from across Europe converged in Zurich to turn a 2014 Volvo XC60 into a work of art.
Each started with a blank white canvas, creating a massive display in what Volvo says is one of the busiest covered public places in Europe, and after each was done, it was all erased for the next artists to come in and do his or her thing. While some made the XC60 a focal point in the art, others made the crossover seemingly disappear. We have a gallery of all six finished pieces, but if you want to see background of the artists or time-lapse videos of their works, head over to VolvoArtSessions.com. This site also shows the exhibits from the prior two years, and a press release can be found below.

Volvo joins Australia's V8 Supercars series [w/video]

It was just a rumor, but now it's official, mates: Volvo will be joining the V8 Supercars series in Australia with an official team for 2014. Volvo is partnering with Garry Rogers Motorsport and its own Polestar tuning firm to create Volvo Polestar Racing.
A V8 engine will be produced by the Swedish arm of the racing effort, and will be supplied to the Garry Rogers team, which will get the whole shebang ready for the track. The outfit will be running two V8 Supercars "based on the production S60 road car." Considering that the S60 uses a range of transversely mounted engines with four, five or six cylinders (powering either the front or all four wheels) while the new race car will employ a V8 sending about 650 horsepower to the rear wheels, make that very loosely based on the production S60...
Volvo claims this is the first factory-backed entry in the V8 Supercars series from a luxury brand. We should note, though, that Mercedes-Benz is represented in the series with an E-Class sedan, but that outfit isn't quite an official entry from the car's German parents. In any case, you're encouraged to watch the teaser video and read the press release below for all the details.

Volvo will issue world's first EV battery passport ahead of EU rules for 2027

LONDON — Volvo Cars is launching the world's first EV battery passport recording the origins of raw materials, components, recycled content and carbon footprint for its flagship EX90 SUV, which is about to start production, the Swedish automaker told Reuters. The passport was developed by Volvo, which is owned by China's Geely, in partnership with UK startup Circulor, which uses blockchain technology to map supply chains for companies, and took over five years to develop. Battery passports will be mandatory for electric vehicles (EVs) sold in the European Union from February 2027 showing the composition of batteries, including the origin of key materials, their carbon footprint and recycled content. Volvo's head of global sustainability Vanessa Butani told Reuters that introducing the passport nearly three years before regulations kick in was aimed at being transparent with car buyers as the automaker targets producing only fully-electric cars by 2030. "It's really important for us to be a pioneer and a leader," Butani said. The EX90 SUV with a battery passport is due to start production soon at Volvo's plant in Charleston, South Carolina, and will be delivered to customers in Europe and North America from the second half of the year. Volvo owners can access a simplified version of the passport using a QR code on the inside of the driver's door. Butani said the passport would be gradually rolled out to all of Volvo's EVs. A more complete version of the passport will be passed to regulators. It will also include up-to-date information on the EV battery's state of health - vital for assessing used EV values - for 15 years and will Volvo cost around $10 per car, Circulor CEO Douglas Johnson-Poensgen told Reuters. Circulor's system traces battery materials from the mine to individual cars, piggybacking on suppliers' production systems to track materials throughout the supply chain and checking suppliers' monthly energy bills - and how much of their energy comes from renewable sources in order to calculate a total carbon footprint. If Volvo brings on board a supplier, Circulor will need to audit it to keep information current, Johnson-Poensgen said. The passport has also required changes in how Volvo traces parts through its manufacturing process to understand the origins of every part in every vehicle. "Car manufacturing has never been about which rock went into which component and which got connected to which car," Johnson-Poensgen said.