Volvo Concept 26: The future of car technology

Volvo unveiled Concept 26 at the Los Angeles Auto Show which is a peek into what kind of interior cars might have in the future.

Volvo unveiled Concept 26 at the Los Angeles Auto Show which is a peek into what kind of interior cars might have in the future. Concept 26 is named for 26 minutes, the average commute time for US drivers, which Volvo sees as time that drivers could get back using this technology.

Volvo Concept 26 interior

Volvo is trying to give back the average amount spent by a person in the car, while taking the driving responsibilities. The company says, people want to drive but not when it is boring, like it is in stop-go traffic. This engineering has ben done, taking in mind these considerations.

“It’s all about people. Our research clearly shows that some people will want to use their commuting time creatively when they have full autonomous drive available, while others will want to just sit back and relax, watch online media or listen to music. Autonomous drive will make all of this possible. This is what Volvo Concept 26 has captured by reimagining the entire car experience,” said Robin Page, Vice President of Interior Design at Volvo Cars

The cockpit features Drive, Create, and Relax— three-position seat memory settings. The usual position is the Drive setting where in, the seat looks like the ordinary but without a fixed center stack. In the Create mode is all about getting work done, whether that’s reading, watching or working on the laptop to finish up some Powerpoint presentations.

The Relax mode is the most exciting. The steering wheel telescopes all the way forward, the instrument panel cowl closes and the entire passenger-side dash rotates upward 90 degrees to reveal a 25-inch screen. A folding tray table completes the business-class ambiance. It is something that could be scary and weird at the same time.

“We have gone to great lengths to understand the challenges and opportunities that autonomous cars will bring to people in coming years, and our flexible approach to engineering and design, enabled by our new Scalable Product Architecture, means that we can readily bring this from concept to reality,” said Dr Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President Research and Development at Volvo Car Group.