Volvo Cars and Vattenfall to Develop New Plug-in Hybrid

By Jay Williams - 03/June/2009

Stockholm, Sweden – Car company Volvo and Swedish energy company, Vattenfall, have joined forces.

The two companies plan on making green, more energy efficient cars that can be charged from a standard wall socket.

Volvo hope to make these energy efficient cars a reality by 2012.

Swedish energy company, Vattenfall and Volvo began testing and developing the plug-in technology, in January 2007.

The next stage in their plan is to introduce plug-in hybrids to the market, powered by electricity and a fuel efficient diesel engine. This technology will be capable of dropping fuel consumption to as little as 2.01/100km and reduce C02 emissions to under 50g/km.

Stephen Odell, President and CEO of the Volvo Car Corporation had this to say, "We are investing in an industrial joint venture to series-produce plug-in hybrid cars in Sweden in 2012, cars that can be powered by both electricity and diesel. This is an important business development for us and our partnership with Vattenfall allows us to take a giant step toward offering our customers cars with an even smaller environmental footprint."

With further development of the technology Vattenfall and Volvo believe that the production of plug-in hybrid cars can help Sweden maintain its position at the cutting edge of energy efficient and greener technology.

With the convenience of being able to 'fuel up' your plug-in hybrid at home from a regular household wall socket, a single charge will take approximately 5 hours and offer a 50 km range.

It will not only be easy for owners to use but will also lower the environmental impact that day-to-day motoring causes.

"We want to reinforce electricity's importance in society and its key role in solving climate issues. Through this cooperation we hope to be able to speed up the introduction of electric cars. Together we are developing the next-generation technology based on plug-in cars and various charging alternatives," says Lars G Josefsson, President and CEO of Vattenfall.

Vattenfall will be developing the technology for the charging systems while Volvo will be manufacturing the cars.

Electric powered cars have a high efficiency rating and consume around one-fifth of the energy that a car that runs on fossil fuels.

However, the purchase price of the plug-in hybrids will be higher initially than that of cars with conventional technology.

The price of batteries are still high, but with a car running on electricity its fuel costs will be cut to roughly one-third compared with diesel power.

"Through electric power, we avoid the emissions from each individual car. Instead of petrol or diesel the energy is derived from a few large power sources and Vattenfall is working hard to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from all electricity production. In Sweden, virtually all Vattenfall's electricity production is emission-free," explains Lars G Josefsson.

The plug-in hybrid cars will be driven by a powerful electric motor fuelled by a lithium-ion battery. The battery takes about five hours to charge from a standard wall socket and the battery is also charged every time the car's brakes are applied.

"Most car journeys are short trips, for instance to and from work. We will be able to offer a product that fulfils this transportation need. In order to cover longer distances as well, the car will also be equipped with one of Volvo's fuel-efficient diesel engines," says Stephen Odell.

Related Links:
- Volvo XC60 (2008)
- Volvo ReCharge Concept (2007)
- Volvo V70 (2007)
- Volvo XC60 (concept)
- Volvo Bioethanol 'Flexifuel' Cars (2007)
- Volvo C30 - The Turbocharged Troika (2006)
- Volvo C30 (2007)
- Volvo S80 (2006)