The first Volvo V90 estate car are ready to go on duty with the police after shining in the demanding driving tests

The first V90 police cars will go on duty in Sweden early next year after the car achieved the highest rating ever in the Swedish police's highly-demanding driving test.

The demands on emergency vehicles are higher than on normal road cars. On top of that, unlike in many other countries, in Sweden the police car is judged as a workplace. This means any car has to meet strict demands in areas such as performance, comfort, quality and ergonomics in order to qualify as a police car.

The Swedish police car test focuses on five areas – a brake test, an obstacle course, evasive action tests, with and without braking, and high-speed emergency driving.

The overall score for the V90 was 9.2 out of 10, the highest rating ever achieved by any car in this demanding test.

The final test protocol on the V90 prepared by Swedish police test drivers concludes that 'overall, it is difficult to find any faults at all. Chassis, steering, suspension, traction control and powertrain all show exemplary performance. Quick lane changes at high speeds feel almost deceptively easy, the car does what it is told to do and shakes off lateral forces without any protest.'

While the Swedish police will be the first to start using the V90, Volvo Cars sells its police cars in other countries as well. Other police forces that in recent years have used Volvos include the UK, Norway, Italy and the Netherlands.

With the V90 police car, to transform the premium estate into a suitable emergency vehicle, the Volvo Car Special Products department further develops the car to meet the specific demands of police forces.

The chassis is made stronger and more dynamic, the brakes and suspension are improved and the car is fully equipped with all necessary tools and communication equipment. It takes about a week to transform a standard V90 into a police car at Volvo Cars' special manufacturing facility in Torslanda.

Volvo Cars has been providing police cars since 1929. In the decades that followed, classic Volvos such as the Amazon and the 144 also served and, more recently, the XC70 and V70 estates have been used by police forces.