The Swedish automaker that is best known for the unequaled safety of its cars decided to redesign child seats, so that they’re lighter and take up less room when stored or carried away.
Volvo realized that most child seats are bulky and cumbersome, and it could allow that to be the norm anymore. After all, most of them weigh around 25 pounds and are quite difficult to carry, so this automaker envisioned an inflatable child seat concept that’s not only lighter than all the others, but also very convenient, as it fits perfectly in a backpack.
The rear-facing child car seat developed by Volvo tops the scale at a bit over 10 pounds, fact that makes it better from this point of view than any of the other similar products.
The Swedish automaker is very popular around the world as a pioneer for car safety measures. After all, it’s Volvo which invented three-point seat belts in 1959. On top of that, the cars made by this company are renowned for being among the safest on the planet. In this context, the automaker had to ditch heavy plastics and a metal frame to reduce the weight of the child car seat, in favor of heavy duty drop-stitch fabric. This material is also used in inflatable rafts, so its resistance is undisputed.
After placing the child seat in the back of the car and securing it into place, all you need to do is press the yellow button placed right under the seat and watch it inflate in 40 seconds. That’s all it takes for this piece of concept to get to its full size.
Lawrence Abele, the Design Manager at the Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center in Los Angeles, pointed out that this new concept solves both the heaviness and the bulkiness of previous designs. On top of that, Abele claimed that not only parents would be happy with Volvo’s new child seat, but also the kids themselves. The air cushioning provides a level of comfort that cannot be equaled by plastic molded child car seats.
There has been no word on whether Volvo means to launch this inflatable car seat, nor on how much it would cost, but the world would definitely be happier with more options.
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