We were totally digging Volvo's ReCharge plug-in hybrid concept when they were showing it off last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but unfortunately it wasn't much more than a cutaway demonstration model at that point. Lucky for us, Volvo decided to take it legit, and built a full-on working concept model of the Volvo C30-based car. The company is teamed up with Saab in a five-year plan to develop plug-in hybrids, and they're currently planning a fleet of 10 cars to be tested in Sweden. Volvo plans to announce a hybrid version of one or more existing models within the next five years, but they're certainly playing it safe -- though the lithium-polymer batteries and in-wheel electric motors might prove them otherwise.

[Via Crave]

We've heard the marketing babble, and pondered the possibilities of a hands-free drive to work, but do those radar-based collision prevention technologies actually work? The British Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre Thatcham seems to think so. BMIRPCT took a long hard look at Volvo City Safety, Mercedes Distronic Plus and Honda CMBS, and decided the technologies will have a major impact on slow speed accidents -- which account for 75% of accidents as it is -- and should prevent more than 125,000 injuries a year in Britain alone, according to this research.

[Via gizmag]

Volvo's name has long since been connected with safety, and the firm has recently announced a few new features for the S80, XC70, and V70 that aim to keep the link alive. Among the new systems that should be available "at the end of 2007" is the (tweaked) Collision Warning with Auto Brake -- which automatically activates the brakes if the driver doesn't react to the warnings -- and the Driver Alert Control for monitoring the behavior of the vehicle and suggesting that the motorist take a coffee break if there's just too much swayin' going on. Additionally, Volvo will be adding the slightly more common adaptive cruise control and distance alert features to the aforementioned cars, but there's no word on whether NAV-equipped rides will route themselves to the nearest java shop if the pictured message is forced to appear.

[Via CNET]
Read - New Collision Warning from Volvo helps prevent rear-end collisions
Read - Volvo introduces new systems for alerting tired drivers

In an interesting turn of events, it seems like the winner of Volvo's lucrative treasure hunt won't be unearthing the $50,000 treasure anytime soon, as the automaker's hunt partner (Odyssey Marine Exploration) has happened upon an actual $500 million treasure instead. The reported fortune is located somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean -- in a secretive area known only as Black Swan -- but reports are claiming that a court in the Spanish coastal town of La Linea has "issued an order for the Spanish Guardia Civil to detain any Odyssey vessel should it leave the port of Gibraltar," which has brought about an abrupt halt to Volvo's retrieval plans. Thankfully, it sounds like the Russian winner will still be awarded the dough and a new XC70 to boot, but there's no telling how long it'll be before Odyssey is able to put aside its bigger worries and dig up the (comparatively) paltry $50k.

[Via CarTechMag]

Volvo has just come out with its own version of collision detection technology, calling it "City Safety," and aims to release this new feature on some models within two years. The technology works via an optical radar in the upper windshield that calculates the distance and speed of the car immediately ahead of you (and it does it 50 times per second), then engages the brakes accordingly if the system detects that a crash is imminent. Of course, Toyota came out with a similar setup that was announced back in August, but Volvo's apparently has the added benefit of being able to "steer away from a potential collision" as well. We weren't really into the idea of turning over braking control to computers at first, either, but steering? We'll stick to walking, thanks.

[Via Gizmag]