Volvo had showcased the Concept Coupe and the XC Coupe in 2013 and the automaker has now developed the Concept Estate. The Concept Estate is based on the Coupe and Volvo has showcased some fine technological improvements that would make their way to the XC90 first. At the front, there is a good amount of similarity between the Coupe and the Estate and changes start to show only when you move towards the side. The Estate however comes with a full-length roof unlike the Coupe which comes with a shorter roofline. The Estate’s roof comes with a couple of see-through glasses that lend an airy feel to the interiors.
The most significant improvement that the Estate brings along with itself is the sheer amount of space that it has compared to the Coupe. The design philosophy followed by Volvo’s engineers when developing the Estate’s interiors will be implemented very soon on the XC90 SUV. Volvo has done away with the numerous buttons that were used to control different functions and replaced them with a large tablet that has the ability to control each and every function. Few buttons still exist though and these will be used for basic functionalities like adjusting the volume, emergency hazard warning, etc. The touchscreen is large in size and the company has designed the user interface in a way that it wouldn’t confuse users.
The main aim that led Volvo to replace the buttons by a large screen was that the company wanted to bring ease-of-use to passengers. The screen is also placed in such a way that it wouldn’t distract the driver at all. Different functions like phone, music, etc have been neatly segregated in the menu and it really wouldn’t be a tough task to use this new system. Powering the Concept Coupe was a 2.0-litre Drive-E petrol engine and the same can be found on the Estate Concept too. However, it would be really great if Volvo actually brings out a production version of these concepts instead of just showcasing them.
