After 66 Years of the Same Old Seatbelt, Volvo Tries Something New
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The electric 2026 Volvo EX60 will be the Swedish automaker's first model to feature its new 'multi-adaptive safety belts.' This new-gen seat belt is designed to more effectively protect you in an accident with a rapid download of impending-crash data from external and internal sensors, optimizing for everything from impact speed to your posture while driving.
Modern seat belts are more complicated than they might look—it's not just a ribbon of fabric stapling you into your seat. In any car, pretensioners cinch up on you in extreme deceleration, and load limiters tactically release tension to prevent the belt from hurting you. In most cars made in the last couple of decades, crash sensors communicate with the airbags and speed sensors for some range of load-limiting force adjustment.
Volvo holds the honor of having introduced the now-ubiquitous three-point belt to the auto industry. Its 1959 invention is credited to Nils Bohlin. Back then, Volvo described the function of the belt: '[it] effectively, and in a physiologically favorable manner, prevents the body of the strapped person being thrown forward.' That patent was released to the public, and basically every automaker ultimately adopted it.
Now, Volvo's taking that same mission, and the systemization of safety equipment, further with the multi-adaptive belt (which, surprisingly, does not have an acronym or cool-sounding proprietary brand name).
Building on the idea of pretensioners and load limiters, the EX60's belts will integrate an immense amount of information—about the vehicle and passenger—to more effectively protect whoever's in the seats. An isolated view of the new belt. Volvo
From the outside, vehicle direction and speed are factored in. From the inside, the EX60 will include passenger height, weight, and even posture to calculate how best to hold its passengers.
'For example, a larger occupant in a serious crash will receive a higher belt load setting to help reduce the risk of head injury. While a smaller occupant in a milder crash will receive a lower belt load setting to reduce the risk of rib fractures,' Volvo said.
While Volvo's traditional seat belt has three different load-limiting profiles it can apply, this new setup has 11. That's certainly a lot more precision in the care of your body in a crash, though it's tough to extrapolate exactly how much injury reduction that will lead to. This quick teaser from Volvo's ES90 reveal video is all we've really seen of the upcoming EX60 so far. Volvo
With the EX60, Volvo's promising to continuously evolve the operating scheme of the system as it gathers more real-world crash data, and apply improved logic via over-the-air updates. 'As Volvo Cars gathers more data and insights, the car can improve its understanding of the occupants, new scenarios and response strategies,' the brand stated.
I haven't fallen in love with the idea of feeding my telemetry to the company that sold me my car, but this kind of safety innovation does make a case for it.
Seat belts are something you never think about until you really need them. And if that ever happens, you're going to want the smartest seat belt ever engineered.
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