Volvo Penta: All the new product launches

We swapped meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars for meatballs, elk and Volvo Penta-powered boats. But while Sweden is a world away for a press conference, the marine engine innovator realises there is commonality in all boating markets. The new products we tested at the presser in Gothenberg had universal appeal and teleported us into boating's future.

The desire to simplify boat operation, create greater integration and auto-like driving pleasure is at the heart of Volvo Penta's evolving "Easy Boating" mantra. Its marine releases say it all: from a new IPS700 and IPS800 pod drive to a quiet common-rail D8 engine, from new joystick options to a clever boat remote that can start your motors from 100m away, from better battery management to hitherto new levels of connectivity with its Glass Cockpit electronic dash.

Of course, there is complexity in the computers, chips and solid-state electrical systems — as indeed there is with the new-age cars, trucks and buses sporting the Volvo badge — but that is behind the scenes, under the bonnet, and in the engine room. At the helm, boat operation is becoming simpler, more intuitive, ergonomic and seamless from terra firma to sea.

The day when your boat has nothing more than a joystick for driving, say on the helm seat armrest much like a ship, and a zen-like dash with one or two giant multipurpose screens is just around the corner. Or here now.

EASY BOATING
At its high-security diesel-engine test facility at Krossholmen for the 2016 press launch, Volvo Penta said it was delivering:

These are commendable goals, to make boating easier through integration, automation, more of an auto-like experience and with that expect to see greater electrification (read hybrids) sooner rather than later. Volvo Penta believes in boating's future.

As if to prove as much, the "Easy Boating" philosophy was launched with the first ever leisure pod-drive unit back in 2005, an IPS600 coded model "A". As we’re up to an "F" variant, there's been a lot of trial-and-error, learning and evolution, data sets, and refinement over more than a decade.

Indeed, the once-futuristic IPS has come of age to the point 65 per cent of D6 engine production at the Vara engine plant we visited is now IPS drive, with a factory-backed warranty from wheel nut to the prop nut, now up to five years through local partners such as Riviera.

Now, it must be said, you can add reliability to the mix and matrix of Volvo Penta's "Easy Boating" solutions and offerings. Servicing costs are coming down and owners of new IPS boats get a direct 24/7 line to the Swedish factory for a global approach to after-sales service.

NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES
While a new IPS model stole the limelight at the Volvo Penta Press Launch 2016 in Gothenberg, there were other notable performances.

We have now written about seven new-product releases from the 2016 launch and you can read these stories on the following links:

1. New common-rail D8 engine

2. New IPS700 and IPS800 with a new IPS drive
3. Joystick for Inboard
4. e-Key Remote control
5. Battery Management Solution (second half of story)
6. Glass Cockpit expands range and capability
7.
New Volvo Penta V6-280 and V8-300 on Whittley boats

Volvo Penta provided seven boats at its diesel engine test facility at Krossholmen — from its fleet of 35 test boats from 7m to 22m — with which to evaluate the new 2016 kit.

"We find it very important to test our products in the correct applications and the true feeling only comes from the water,"  Ulf Eliasson from Engineering and Marine at Volvo Penta told us.

"We say you need to feel and smell the product," Eliasson adds, as we tour the test facility looking at everything from commercial rescue boats to a little timber chugger.

Our personal test fleet with the latest Volvo Penta products included:

Boats 4-7 we didn't drive, partly due to time constraints, mostly due to the fact we have already experienced the Next Generation petrol engine products in Australia. We intend to test the latest Volvo Penta V8s on some Whittley trailerable cruisers breaking cover at the 2016 Melbourne boat show opening June 17, 2016.

The Targa 44 that we also didn't command had a pair of IPS600s. We know this model well, since it was first introduced in 2005. In this line-up, the IPS600 bore testimony to the fact Volvo Penta was ahead of the game when it introduced its forward-facing articulating pod drive more than a decade ago. The 330-435hp D6 is still a key part of the IPS range today. Here's our verdict from the test drives...

THE TEST VERDICTS
>> The D8 with the IPS700 and IPS800 is the quietest, smoothest and most agreeable diesel engine we've driven in a boat bar none. When this engine and pod combination comes to our local cruisers, which are superior to the old Italian test boats we had on trial, expect an even sweeter ride.

>> The D8 in shaft is also a wonderful thing and, with the new Inboard Joystick option, Volvo Penta believes it can offer some of that "Easy Boating" to the shaft-drive fraternity. It's not as refined or responsive as IPS, but it is a lot more advanced than just the old shaft installation with 'sticks', maybe a bow thruster in the mix that demands you need three hands, and a cluttered dash of ad hoc electronics.

>> The new e-Key Remote is very cool, adding to the auto-like boating experience Volvo Penta desires, with the ability to start your boat's engines with the press of a button from up to 100m away. It will also turn on two separate sets of predetermined DC functions so your boat is in operational mode at the press of a button from afar.

>> The new Battery Management Solution brings a whole pile of electronic complexity back into just a few black boxes mounted in the engine room. This helps make today's electronic engines and their association systems much neater and simpler and, visually, somewhat less daunting for the owner (not that you need to service them).

The modular Battery Management Solution also includes a stand-alone dash-mounted control panel that monitors your power bank's status, offers key battery functions, while automatically paralleling should your engines need more boost during start-up. Dash-mounted, the digital battery-management screen does away with the old manual battery management panel mounted in some out-of-the-way area.

>> The Glass Cockpit integration through Garmin's touch screens has advanced and includes multifunction (MFD) displays from 7in (trailerboats) up to 24in. Mounted on our test boats, these stand-alone big screens are your complete operational centre, displaying everything from navigational data to engine operation, Dynamic Positioning System, station holding functions, camera inputs and more on the one MFD screen.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE
The take home message we gleaned from our trip to Sweden was this: Volvo
Penta has introduced a new level of integration, sophistication,
connectivity and driving pleasure in its diesel marine engines that
really does set the bar.

"Our goal is to make owning and operating a boat as easy as possible," says Stefan Carlsson, head of Volvo Penta’s Marine Diesel segment. "The new IPS pod continues that commitment. By expanding our range, we can now offer a greater choice in systems and bring the benefits of ‘easy boating’ to an even broader range of boats."

After touring the Volvo Penta plant at Vara, where the D3, D4 and D6 engines are made en masse, where blocks and heads were being born before our very eyes, and sprayed that signature Volvo green, it was time to head home...

Vara is the world’s smallest complete engine plant where 5000 mainly leisure engines are made in 15 to 20 variants each year. From a chunk of metal to being shipped out the door is a 20-day turnaround. There is capacity to build 30,000 engines here annually and Volvo Penta hopes for a turnaround.

As a rough rule of thumb: it costs 1000 Swedish Krona (about $163) for every HP in your engine at retail level. The engines are run for at least 30 minutes across the rev range before leaving the impressive plant located amid the lush farmlands an hour out of Gothenberg.

THE VOLVO FUTURE
In new-product develOpment, Volvo Penta is working five years out and this writer has wind that hybrid marine engines could appear on the scene in two years. Mind you, that’s just our hunch from a few conversations with our amicable Swedish crew.

But you only need to look at the way we’re using electronics today to know there’s more on the way from Volvo Penta. As the Swedish company proclaims: "Innovation is in our DNA."

The electronic advances in its trucks and buses will drive the global marine industry forward. According to the financials, turnover was up 21 per cent last year.

So, are you ready for a diesel-electric hybrid? More on Volvo Penta products and services in Australia from Volvo Penta Australia.