Highest accolades at the 2009 What Car? Green Car Awards
Volvo has beaten some impressive rivals to receive the highest accolade at the 2009 What Car? Green Car Awards. What Car? is Britain’s biggest consumer automotive journal and car buyer’s guide. Not only did the S40 1.6D DRIVe win the Small Family category, it then drove greenly on to beat the winners of all the other categories and be named by the magazine’s editors as Green Car of the Year.
Volvo’s impressive new Start/Stop technology was instrumental in these victories.burst of temper.
Some formidable rivals were defeated by the S40. In its own category, it outpointed the BMW 118d and the Renault Megane, while in the overall contest it beat the Audi A8 and MINI Cooper S.
Offering exceptionally low CO2 emissions of just 104g/km and fuel consumption of just 3.9 litres per 100 kilometres, What Car?'s judges praised the S40 DRIVe's unique combination of low emissions, practicality, safety and driver enjoyment as key reasons for the win.
Steve Fowler, What Car?'s editor, praised the car. He said: "Volvo's S40 DRIVe is one seriously appealing eco-friendly car. Its low emissions don't come at the expense of quality, safety or driver enjoyment and its great value, too. It's everything we look for in a Green Car of the Year."
Upon receiving the award, Stuart Kerr, Volvo's Regional President of Europe said: "Volvo has a strong commitment to its environmental activities and we have worked hard to reduce the carbon footprint on all our cars by focusing on health, resource utilisation and the ecological consequences right through from production, use to disposal."
"The recent launch of the DRIVe range enables Volvo to offer mid-sized cars with the same fuel consumption and CO2 emissions as competitor's small cars. For customers, this means that they don't have to compromise on anything when they choose a Volvo. This highly important award is recognition of Volvo's desire to build the most fuel efficient cars possible," he concluded.
The ceremony took place at London City Hall on Monday 8 June and the award was handed over by Boris Johnson, the mayor of London.
Start/Stop in detail
In order to reduce CO2 emissions to 104 g/km, the new S40 DRIVe have been equipped with a Start/Stop function.
When the driver puts the gear lever into neutral and releases the clutch while at a standstill, the engine switches off. The next time the driver presses the clutch, the engine starts up again. Volvo's Start/Stop system also continuously monitors the comfort levels in the cabin and automatically reactivates the air conditioning if, for instance, the temperature increases in the passenger compartment.
This innovative monitoring system has been made possible due to an additional small battery which supports the larger battery by providing extra power. Thanks to this extra battery, Volvo's DRIVe models also feature particularly quick and smooth start-up. The audio system also remains unaffected when the starter motor is activated.
This distinguishes Volvo Car's solution from other systems offered by the competition. The standard larger battery has also been upgraded to handle up to 175,000 Start/Stop cycles. The Start/Stop technology is also available in the Volvo C30 and V50 DRIVe models.
From September 2009 Australian buyers will be able to enjoy this new technology. The The Volvo C30 1.6D DRIVe model, which offers the same fuel consumption and best-in-class emissions as the S40 DRIVe goes on sale just in time to make spring even greener.
For decades the Volvo brand has enjoyed excellent credentials in the pursuit of road safety. These latest awards show that it is consolidating a similarly strong position in the battle to save the environment.
