The Volvo XC60 and the fully autonomous ideaForge Netra V Series UAV go head to head.
Spending a day chasing drones is a lot of fun, especially if you have the punchy new Volvo XC60 and the co-founder of India’s largest drone technology firm for company.
A Volvo man or woman is not your typical luxury car buyer. They are usually immune to marketing spiel; they know their stuff; and they know what they want. And the XC60, Volvo’s big sales hero, is right up their alley. The new XC60, launched late last year, is a lot like the earlier model — handsome, luxurious without being flashy about it, and thoroughly well equipped to handle both city and country. But, look closer, specifically at the badge that says ‘B5’, and you’ll realise that the XC60 is an automobile that is driving towards the future. Its refined 250hp, 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol motor is a mild hybrid, and a 48V battery helps it acquire an additional halo of eco-friendliness by bumping up fuel efficiency and acceleration.
The Volvo SUV offers an engaging, refined drive.
That’s not the only thing new about the XC60.
Gothenburg, in Sweden, where Volvos is HQ-ed, has invested a lot into making its cars tech-enabled, and so, the XC60 has, among others, fully integrated Google Maps and Google Assistant that gets you the latest updates of traffic, fine-tune your cabin environment, and seamlessly connect to your go-to apps and devices.
Follow the leader
All of this comes into play once the XC60 is on the move, as it is now. On a late February morning, the light glinting off the SUV’s now slim chrome-lined grille and the sporty 19-inch alloy wheels.
These, combined with those sharp LED headlamps along with the Thor’s hammer daytime running lamps — surely, among the most distinctive visual signatures in the automotive world — are helping the XC60 stand out. Inside, ensconced in throne-like seats of the SUV, the world seems like a great place to be in. The XC60 abounds in tasteful touches: Alcantara leather, crystal glass shift knob; a 9.0-inch touchscreen, the high-performance Bowers & Wilkins sound system; and wood and brushed aluminium.
The Volvo XC60 abounds in tasteful touches, such as this crystal gear shifter.
The XC60’s engine is quiet at almost all speeds, and delivers brisk, linear acceleration. We especially love its meaty torque band, and the way it dismisses road irregularities, lesser SUVs would have to gingerly manage. The XC60’s handling is also confidence-inspiring and the car feels immensely planted at high speeds. A special mention here for the 8-speed automatic gearbox that is immensely adaptive and puts you in the right power band at the right time. With the XC60, the overall feeling, then, is of being in a cocoon that can fly once you give it the beans.
On the fly
Rahul Singh is soft-spoken, measures his words, and is mostly quiet — unless he is talking about something that he is passionate about: robotics. Singh, who is in his late 30s, is one of the co-founders of ideaForge, the country’s largest drone technology company for defence, homeland security and industrial applications. ideaForge, which was founded in 2007 and is backed, among others, by information technology major Infosys and American multinational company Qualcomm, makes drones that makes life easier for the likes of Indian armed forces and the Survey of India.
Rahul Singh, seen here with the Switch UAV, is aware of Volvo’s incredible car safety legacy.
Its products include the indigenous Switch, a fixed wing vertical take-off and landing UAV that can be deployed at high altitude and harsh environments for day and night missions for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Singh, a bike and F1 nut, also likes to take things apart and put them back, and keep an eye on what is happening at the intersections of technology and society. “This entire thing of food delivery people keep talking about is a very limited part of what drones can do,” says Singh, who is aware of Volvo’s incredible car safety legacy and is exactly the kind of guy who will appreciate the thought that went into, for example, the XC60’s blind spot information system (BLIS) that delivers active support when changing lanes. In case of a risk of collision with other vehicles in the adjacent lane, BLIS subtly adjusts steering, helping keep you stay right where you should be.
With throne-like seats and luxurious touches all round, the XC60’s cabin is top notch.
Other assisted safety tech — Volvo practically invented the concept — in the XC60 include intelligent safety assist technology that helps drivers detect and avoid vehicles, pedestrians, and large animals by warning the driver and then auto-braking if the driver fails to react, and cross-traffic alert with auto-brake that helps drivers reverse with confidence. We spun around the XC60 with Singh at ideaForge’s deeply undulating proving grounds, near Navi Mumbai, and with one of the company’s drones — the fully autonomous Netra V4 series UAV — ‘chasing’ us, lived out our cyberpunk fantasies. The XC60 handles the rough stuff pretty well, and this is without activating the Off-Road mode that increases the SUV’s traction while driving in difficult road conditions by getting a host of technologies into the picture.
“Our products, such as the Switch UAV, can handle extremes of weather and terrain, but while doing so, they, like Volvos, make life simpler and better for the user by bringing in smart features,” says Singh.
We know a lot of Volvo owners who’d agree with that.
