Volvo's team of experts makes sure your car smells as good as new.
As yet, there is no technical device that can replace the human nose or, in particular, determine if something smells good or bad. For this reason, Volvo Car Corporation established some years ago a 'smell test panel'.
"Our 'nose team' is consists of eight specially selected people with 'standard' noses, who guide the designers in their choice of materials and production methods, especially for the interior of the car. A new Volvo must smell like a Volvo!" explains Roula Beiruty, Volvo Cars Marketing Manager.
Subjective
What smells good or bad is a subjective judgment. "Different people have different perceptions of smells," says Patrik Libander, who is a test engineer and responsible for the smell test panel. "These are due to differences between generations and cultures, and to the different associations made by different people depending on their own experience. However, this is one of the things that makes my job exciting."
New car's smell
The Volvo group has its origin in 1927 when the first Volvo car rolled off the production line at the factory in Goteorg, Sweden. The interior of a modern car contains many different materials, such as plastics. These, in turn, contain chemical substances. While most of these substances remain 'locked' in the material, small quantities can evaporate and give off the smell typical of a new car. Volvo Cars monitors these substances and the smells they may cause in the cabin.
The 'Smell Test Panel' is responsible for the way the interior trim details should smell. The panel consists of eight people who undergo a careful selection process to ensure that they
all have a 'normal' sense of smell and do not differ appreciably from each other in this respect.
There are always four people at each testing.
"People who like an odour that others in the panel think is unpleasant are excluded," explains Libander, "Likewise those who either cannot detect or are hypersensitive to smells. All must be non-smokers, since smoking can affect the sense of smell." The panel evaluates the smell from the interior trim items on a scale from one to six, on which 'one' indicates 'not noticeable' and 'six' is 'unbearable'. To secure approval, the test ranking must not exceed 'three', which is 'clearly noticeable, but not yet unpleasant'.
The interior designers also use a sunshine simulator at the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, situated in Boras, an hour's drive from Goteborg. There, a car equipped with a new interior trim material can be tested by placing it in the simulator for a couple of hours until the cabin temperature has reached about 65 degree centigrade. Specialised equipment is then used to measure the levels of TVOCs (Total Volatile Organic Compounds) and aldehydes in the interior. Finally, members of the Volvo Cars 'smell test panel' sit in the car and evaluate the smell on the fixed scale.
"We impose strict demands both on ourselves and our suppliers," concludes Patrik Libander and adds, "Travelling in a car should be a pleasant experience for the nose as well."
