Volvo has turned the passenger seat around in its new luxury concept car, creating a swiveling child seat.
The XC90 Excellence and the Lounge Console Concept, revealed in Shanghai, follows on their ‘in-car office’ concept.
The design was based on a review of the XC90 Excellence Lounge Console Concept this year. Volvo Cars owner explored other ways in which the space usually taken up by the passenger seat could be used. The company has already designed the front seat as an office-like workspace. Shufu and Tisha Johnson, Chief Designer Interiors at Volvo Cars Concept and Monitoring Centre, developed the idea for a child seat during their conversation.
“We have been investigating the nature of progressive luxury for some time and we see a direct connection between luxury and emotional wellbeing. So we have taken the next step in redefining how the interior of a car can be used to suit our customers’ needs. We have always placed a great deal of importance on child safety, but this takes things to the next level,” she said.
The child seat can be locked in a rearward-facing position or swiveled counter-clockwise in order to turn the child toward the driver.
Volvo has studied child safety in cars, and believes that small children should travel facing rearward up until the age of 3 or 4 in order to reduce damage to their necks during potential accidents.
Storage space underneath, in front of, and beside the child seat gives parents room to store tote bags and other supplies.
The swiveling seat allows a parent to maintain eye contact with the child from the rear seat. The XC90 Excellence also has heated cup holders, convenient for parents bringing warm bottles along for their children.
Both types of passenger seat modifications could apply to even more futuristic vehicles.
“Such alternative seating arrangements will become increasingly important as we move towards autonomous vehicles,” Johnson said.
