Volvo will mass-produce plug-in hybrids in 2012

The alliance between Volvo and the Swedish electricity company Vattenfall has today taken a very important step, as it has been announced that Volvo will use the industrial support of its partner (with which it has been working on projects since 2007) to manufacture plug-in hybrids within three years. Volvo will be responsible for producing the cars and Vattenfall will supply the batteries and electrical systems. These vehicles will combine a diesel engine with an electric one and will be able to be recharged using the domestic electricity grid or some public charging posts that will be installed on the roads.

Both Volvo and Vattenfall believe that the infrastructure needed to produce the hybrids will create new jobs and will help Sweden maintain its leading position in research into green technologies. “Through this cooperation we hope to accelerate the introduction of electric cars,” said Lars G Josefsson, President and CEO of Vattenfall.

Although the price of these plug-in hybrids will be higher than models running on fossil fuels, their energy cost is estimated to be a third of what a diesel engine would cost. For those most concerned with ecology, Vattenfall will offer the opportunity to sign an agreement under which the electricity supply will come from wind or hydroelectric power. In addition, the Swedish company says it is working to reduce emissions from electricity production as much as possible. “In Sweden, all of Vattenfall’s electricity production produces no emissions whatsoever,” Josefsson explained.

The hybrids will have lithium-ion batteries that take about five hours to recharge from a home socket and between one and a half and two and a half hours at public charging posts. They will also receive energy recovered from the energy dissipated during braking. Because they can run on the electric motor alone over limited distances, Volvo hopes to offer products that, on short journeys, need only electricity to move and therefore eliminate all types of emissions completely.

Volvo will put into practice this summer its “DRIVe: Towards Zero” programme, testing three V70 plug-in hybrids to gather the experiences and requirements of drivers, and so prepare the technology to suit the public’s needs. Vattenfall, for its part, will work on battery recharging methods that require even less time, as well as test its public charging stations.

Source | Volvo