Setting The Story Straight: Volvo Power Limiter 2020+
To start, you're only being limited to 112MPH (180KPH)
(No, it will not affect your 1992 240)
This power limiter is going to be functional only on 2020+ Volvo models.
Read on:
By now we are sure you have heard something along the lines of "Volvo is limiting power on their vehicles" or "Volvo is taking away your power" well, this is both true and not true.
In early 2019 Volvo stated that "The company’s Vision 2020, which aims for no one to be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo by 2020" which they went on to further acknowledge was "one of the most ambitious safety visions in the automotive industry."
Volvo realizes that technology in modern vehicles and safety equipment can only safeguard humans to a certain degree, and acknowledges the one thing that we don't want to admit - Human failure, stating "Volvo Cars is now broadening its scope to include a focus on driver behavior."
"Research by Volvo Cars has identified three remaining concerns for safety that constitute so-called ‘gaps’ in its ambition to completely end serious injuries and fatalities in its cars, with speeding a very prominent one."
“Volvo is a leader in safety: we always have been and we always will be,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive. "Because of our research we know where the problem areas are when it comes to ending serious injuries and fatalities in our cars. And while a speed limitation is not a cure-all, it’s worth doing if we can even save one life.”
"Apart from limiting top speeds, the company is also investigating how a combination of smart speed control and geofencing technology could automatically limit speeds around schools and hospitals in future."
Beyond speeding, two other problem areas constitute ‘gaps toward zero’. As obvious a problem as speeding (and as difficult to end) is intoxication. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is illegal in large parts of the world, yet it remains a prime reason for injuries and fatalities on today’s roads.
The other area is distraction. Drivers distracted by their mobile phones or otherwise not fully engaged in driving are another major cause of traffic fatalities. In many ways, they are equally dangerous as drunk drivers.
Volvo Cars will present ideas to tackle the problem areas of intoxication and distraction at a special safety event in Gothenburg, Sweden on March 20.
While the vision of "no one to be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo by 2020" sounds amazing, we do have to face the fact that this ambitious move may also limit how we as humans travel, albeit 112MPH isn't a speed any of us should be going in a passenger car outside of the Nurburgring or Autobahn as is.
What Volvo is proposing is not completely radical, as many car manufacturers have been doing this for the past decade. But this is a vision we are willing to adapt to and grow with if it truly means no death or serious injury in a new Volvo by 2020 and forward.