KEY POINTS:
Volvo says its Scandinavian heritage and industry-leading testing results in cars capable of handling the harshest winter weather.
Customers should be able to rely on Volvo everywhere, irrespective of climate and road conditions, it says.
That is why Volvo, like most car-makers, tests its cars under the most
extreme conditions on Earth - in Arizona's blisteringly hot desert and in the biting cold of the Arctic north.
"Our cars have to be able to withstand ambient temperatures between - 40 and 60C ,"says Jan Inge Eliasson, head of testing at Volvo. "Our aim is to create the best possible total function for all climates."
The requirement applies to the entire car, down to the smallest detail.
A typical Volvo consists of about 40 main systems such as the engine, climate unit, seats and so on.
These are divided into 400 subsystems such as the starter motor, fan, seat heaters and others. Which, in turn, consist of a total of about 3000 components - everything from sensors to heating circuits.
Systems and components must guarantee thousands of different functions. For instance, that the seat can be moved fore and aft, that the fan delivers the right power, that the windscreen wipers operate at their set intervals and so on.
"Extreme winter climate is probably the toughest test to which one can subject a car," said Eliasson.
"The stresses on the engine, steering, climate unit and other systems are immense.
"As far as I know, we are the only company carrying out tests down to - 40 degrees."
Volvo started winter-testing in Swedish Lapland back in the 1960s. The winter test season stretches from December to April. During this period, 200,000 kilometres are covered on the test track and public highways, equivalent to driving about five times round the world.
The tests are carried out by Volvo's test engineers and local test drivers.
There are male and female test drivers, and they are of different ages and have different amounts of driving experience. Their task is to identify and report on any faults they discover - before the customers do.
"All testing takes place as close to the customer's everyday reality as possible. And even if most Volvo customers never come into contact with this type of extreme climate, the car has to be ready on what may well be the one day a year when the snow suddenly blankets everything," says Eliasson.
And if the natural conditions aren't tough enough, refrigerator containers are brought in to do the job. The car can be parked inside overnight at - 30C.
The next morning, the doors are forced open and the engine is cold-started from scratch - and it has to be ready for the day's tests.
"The big challenge lies in getting all the systems to function faultlessly together," says Eliasson.
"The cold slows down the locking systems and various displays. The snow penetrates and blocks filters. Ice covers the windows and lamps.
"All this and much more has to be dealt with to meet the tough demands that are imposed."
