Euro NCAP has been around for a long time and is the benchmark safety standard for vehicles made in Europe so the folks at Volvo were understandably pleased when the plug-in hybrid version of the V60 wagon scored the highest-ever safety score for a plug-in hybrid.
The maximum five-star safety score for the plug-in hybrid Volvo V60 came after the latest round of Euro NCAP testing including a frontal offset collision at 64km/h.
Of course the challenge Volvo faced with the plug-in hybrid V60 was integration of the battery pack and its extra weight. Volvo houses the batteries under the vehicle floor.
“The Plug-in Hybrid has been exposed to an extensive test programme during the developmental phase, as all our models,” explained Volvo’s safety boss Jan Invarsson. “This includes full-scale crash tests with different load cases, such as frontal collision, rear and side collisions to verify that the battery technology fulfills our stringent safety requirements. The V60 Plug-in Hybrid also offers all unique Volvo active safety functions, such as City Safety, Collision warning with full Auto Brake and Pedestrian Detection.”
The initial production run of 1,000 Volvo V60 plug-in hybrids has already been sold-out and orders for next year’s 2014 model (production of 4,000-6,000 vehicles is planned) are filling
