The police are the only ones who are both allowed and able to drive faster than 180 km/h in Volvo's newer cars. It has been that way since 2020.
Police Volvos are the only ones that can break the speed limit of 180 km/h, which has been standard in all of the brand's new passenger cars since 2020.
This limitation applies regardless of engine power, meaning that even a tuned Polestar variant with over 400 hp cannot go faster than the base model with 129 horsepower.
Volvo has chosen to introduce this restriction as part of their safety vision, which aims to prevent deaths and serious injuries in traffic.
– We would like to start a discussion about whether car manufacturers have the right or even the obligation to install technology in cars that changes driver behavior, said the brand's then chairman of the board Håkan Samuelsson, when the speed limiter became a reality.
According to Volvo, it is not possible to bypass the speed limit as the software is not available to third parties.
– We do not open the software to third parties, and attempts to remove the block are something we strongly advise against, says Karin Wik, press manager for Volvo Cars in Sweden.
Police and other emergency vehicles are exempt from this rule, however. Their Volvos can still reach speeds of up to 250 km/h. Most police cars from Volvo are the V90 D5, which has a top speed of 240 km/h. The Swedish traffic police also use the V90 T6, which can reach at least 250 km/h.
– There are very few stretches of road in Sweden where you can drive so fast that you drive away from a D5, even if you have a really fast sports car, said Ulf Rydne, who is responsible for police cars at Volvo, in a previous report.
– My opinion is also that the police today are restrictive with car chases. A car chase often ends with the person being chased lying in a ditch because they are not used to driving at high speed, the report also states.
Although Volvo recognizes that high-speed driving is a risk factor in traffic, not everyone agrees with their decision to limit the cars' top speed.
The debate about car manufacturers' responsibility to prevent dangerous driving continues. In Germany, there is currently a discussion about whether car brands should also be forced to hand over keys to law enforcement and install an alcohol interlock in all factory-new electric cars. Read more about it here .
