Volvo Cars has revealed a special version of its V90 Cross Country all-road estate to celebrate the start of the 2017/2018 Volvo Ocean Race, writes Trish Whelan.
Buyers of the car will also contribute directly to helping understand the health of our oceans. To support the Volvo Ocean Race’s Science Programme around 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 total donation of €300,000 underlines the brand’s long-standing commitment to environmental care.
The Volvo Ocean Race Science Programme equips boats in this year’s race with a variety of sensors that will capture data from some of the remotest parts of the world’s oceans including temperatures, barometric pressure, currents and wind speed, which will help contribute to more accurate weather forecasts and climate models used by scientists globally. The boats will also measure levels of salinity, dissolved C02 and algae in the sea water around them. These will help create a more complete picture of the scale of plastic pollution and its impact on ocean life. The Programme’s science partners include the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
The car will also help tackle marine pollution as the carpet inlays are made from Econyl, a fabric made from 100 per cent recycled nylon including abandoned fishing nets reclaimed from the seabed.
The new car comes with all the standard features customers expect from a Cross Country model like all-wheel-drive, increased ride height and a chassis optimised for comfort and control in all weather and road conditions.
The initial production volume of 3,000 cars will be sold in 30 markets around the globe.
The initial production volume of 3,000 cars will be sold in 30 markets around the globe.
