With the “Vision 2020” concept, Volvo is planning to reduce
the Vmax (maximum velocity) of their cars to 180 kmph.
Volvo states that reducing the maximum velocity can save
lifes in traffic. Most models of Volvo speed up to 250 kmph.

Es pecially models like the xc60 or xc90 are known to reach top speeds of 250 kmph at which the electronic stopper triggers to disallow acceleration over 250 kmph. But also the Sedans S60 and S90 reach such top speeds.

The question then however is if cars with powerful machines are making sense at all. Hardly anyone would shell out extra money just to accelerate faster but then still stop at 180 kmph, It’s like BMW would downsize the speed on their lines. Why would someone fork out 150.000€ for a full-featured 760XLi when the 135 or 340d could also reach 180 Vmax but costing only a fraction of the price of the 760XLi. Doesn’t make sense at all!

The argument that lower speeds save lifes is just half of the truth because even fast drivers can drive more secure than a slow-paced driver who doesn’t pay much attention to the traffic in general. Of course there are a lot of accidents due to speeding. But mosat of these accidents can be based on drivers paying to little attention to the environment and weather conditions.

It’s just irresponsible to drive with more than 100kmph well knowing that the road is icy or slippery as there was rain. Also it’s irresponsible to drive 180kmph and more and closing up to your foreman to less than half the velocity in metres. So if you go 180kmph, you should have 90 metres distance to your foreman so you can safely brake down when your foreman does.

The main problem however is that some people use bigger gaps to squeeze in between you and your foreman to make use of the fast flow. But the distance is then reduced and the danger of a collision is increased. Driving assistants like DistaControl allow safe driving even at faster speeds. In combination with the Tempomat the car automatically sets the correct distance to your foreman and brakes/accelerates according to your and your foreman’s speed.

They are all a milestone for autonomous driving. And of all cars that offer (semi-)autonomous driving, Tesla is most-advanced. It’s only a matter of time until other companies will build cars with autonomous driving assistants as well.