Cars

2017–18 Volvo Ocean Race begins with special V90 Cross Country

By Sagar

Posted on October 31, 2017

2017-18-Volvo-Ocean-Race-V90-Cross-Country

Volvo has created a special version of its V90 Cross Country to celebrate the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race.

Buyers of the car will contribute directly to helping understand the health of our oceans, said Volvo. To support the Volvo Ocean Race’s Science Programme fighting against ocean plastics, the company will donate €100 for each of the first 3,000 V90 Cross Country Volvo Ocean Race cars it plans to build. The resulting total donation of €300,000 will go to the environmental care.

The Volvo Ocean Race Science Programme equips boats with a variety of sensors that will capture data from some of the remotest parts of the world’s oceans. This includes temperatures, barometric pressure, currents and wind speed, which will help contribute to more accurate weather forecasts and climate models used by scientists globally.

Furthermore, the boats will measure levels of salinity, dissolved CO2 and algae in the sea water around them. Combined with other data on microplastics, these measurements will help create a more complete picture of the scale of plastic pollution and its impact on ocean life, said Volvo. The Programme’s science partners include the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

As for the V90 Cross Country, the car’s carpet inlays are made from Econyl, a fabric made from 100% recycled nylon, including abandoned fishing nets reclaimed from the seabed. The car gets matte grey and bright orange details, combined with a Crystal White exterior colour and special wheels to set it apart from its siblings in the 90 Series. Additionally, there is a detachable torchlight, additional power outlets and dirt and water-resistant materials.

The special car was developed by Volvo designers and a group of engineers within the company’s Special Vehicles department, a purpose-built facility at Volvo Cars’ base in Torslanda, Sweden.

The initial production volume of 3,000 cars will be sold in 30 markets around the globe, including most countries in the EMEA region as well as the United States, Japan and China.