Has Volvo Created the Car of Every Parent's Dreams?

If you created a dream list of wants for traveling via car with your kids, what would be on it? An easy-to-install car seat? The ability to keep an eye on your kids while still driving? Heated cup holders that could warm a baby's bottle?

Well, if any or all of those items are on your list, Volvo's got your number. The company just debuted the "Excellence Child Seat Concept" for its 2016 XC90 SUV, and it is a sight for sore mama bear eyes. In essence, the company has removed the front passenger seat and placed a raised platform that holds a swiveling infant and toddler car seat in its place. Parents can turn the car seat counterclockwise to place their child in the seat and then lock it in place in the rear-facing position. The concept allows children to make eye contact with passengers in the backseat of the car, as well as the driver.

"We started by asking ourselves if we could make life easier for parents and safer for their children when it comes to the child seat experience," said Tisha Johnson, chief designer interiors at Volvo Cars Concept and Monitoring Centre. "We focused on three key benefits — making it easier to get the child into and out of the child seat . . . providing the child with a safe rearward-facing seating position that enables it to keep eye contact with either the driver or the rear passenger, and of course including enough storage for those vital child accessories."

Yes, the concept also includes storage space for necessities below the seat and heated cup holders to keep baby's bottles (or mom's Starbucks — come on, we know you were thinking that) warmed.

The first thing that crossed our minds when seeing it was how the concept could pass US and international safety standards given the fact the children are banned from riding in cars' front seats due to safety issues with air bags. But according to Volvo, "from a safety perspective there is no difference between the rear seat or front seat, given that the airbag is disconnected."

Volvo has long been known as the leader in automobile safety, and the company has integrated booster seats into its cars for years. It's been pushing for kids as old as 3 and 4 to remain in rear-facing seats due to the lack of muscular strength in their necks, and this concept would certainly allow for it. But the concept still leaves a number of questions unanswered: what about families with twins or multiple children who need to sit in car seats? How do you decide which one gets the seat of honor? Will the seat's position help or enhance motion sickness (because I wouldn't want to be the one sitting directly in front of a child who projectile vomits from that position)? And can a regular seat be purchased and installed when your child outgrows the car seat?

For now it is just a concept, but if it means that car manufacturers really have parents on their minds, we're all for that!