Volvo is Building Its Offering with Electricity and 5G

The world of transport is changing rapidly, and people are demanding far more from the car manufacturers they choose to do business with. For those brands operating in the B2B space the pressure to innovate is felt even more keenly as the demands and expectations of business clients can often be even greater than those in the B2C space.

Demands for an ever-greater level of technology in vehicles is high on the list, with telematics giving fleet managers new ways of monitoring their vehicles and turning that data into deep insights with the power to drive real policy change and process improvements. The pressure is also on industry to be more environmentally conscious, giving rise to an increased demand for hybrid and 100 percent electric vehicles.

As one of the world’s most well known and recognisable vehicle brands, Volvo understands the needs of the B2B space more than most and has been racing to meet them with two exciting innovations.

Volvo

First, we travel over to China, where the country has been embarked on one of the most ambitious 5G build out programs the world has seen. Obviously, the coronavirus pandemic may have caused some disruption to these plans – despite what the conspiracy theorists would have you believe – but China is set to continue massively increasing the reach of its 5G networks throughout 2020.

In the spirit of this progress Volvo has joined forces with China’s third largest mobile network operator, China Unicorn, to help accelerate the progress of research and development into 5G connected vehicles. Connected cars are still in their infancy, but thanks to the ultra-low latency and high network availability that 5G provides, we can expect to see more and more connectivity in our vehicles from here on out.

"As an innovation leader in the 5G area, China Unicom is committed to create new information infrastructure and solutions in the area of intelligent Internet connection with the best experience to the users,” said Vice President of China Unicom Group, Liang Baojun. 5G will fully enable the development of automatic driving, improve the safety of driving and bring a new experience by building a collaborative service system of people, vehicles, roadway, network, and cloud. It is believed that China Unicom and Volvo Cars will sincerely cooperate with each other to become an industry model in China.”

Connected vehicles have so much potential for the B2B space. Not only can they provide essential telematics data as described above, but also help drivers with moment to moment decision making. With vehicles able to communicate seamlessly with one another, they can pass warnings about accidents or floods etc. down the road and give drivers time to react, either by slowing down well in advance or choosing a different route.

Electric Vehicles

Climate change is becoming a major concern for the planet, and businesses are feeling pressure from customers to make their products and service more environmentally friendly. The UK government recently announced plans to cease the sale of fossil fuel powered vehicles by 2035 as part of its plan to achieve zero carbon by 2050.

To help encourage businesses to make more environmentally responsible decisions, Volvo is offering drivers and buyers of its plug-in hybrid vehicles a year’s free electricity with which to charge the battery.

“At Volvo, in keeping with our Swedish roots, we’ve always taken a keen interest in looking after the environment,” said Volvo Car UK Managing Director, Kristian Elvefors. “Our recently stated ambition to become a carbon-neutral company by 2040 shows we are serious about addressing climate change.”

To qualify for the scheme, customers must purchase their Volvo before the 30th June 2020. The electricity costs for charging the car will be calculated from May 2020 and refunded to the customer at the end of the 12-month period, with value based on a third party-provided average cost of electricity.

Each customer’s energy consumption is monitored by the Volvo On Call smartphone app which automatically keeps a record of how much power they consume and allows the driver to monitor the charge status of their car’s battery.

“It’s crucial that we help our plug-in hybrid customers understand how they can make the most of their car’s electric potential,” continued Elvefors. “So, by meeting their electricity charging costs for a year, we can encourage them to develop the good habit of regularly recharging their car’s battery, as well as saving them money at the same time.”

Final Thoughts

5G connectivity and electric power are two of the most important paradigm shifts occurring in the transport industry. And, by working with government agencies and offering customers innovative incentives, Volvo is making sure these developments achieve the maximum possible uptake.

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