Volvo next on plug-in hybrid list

Volvo drivers have three years to ditch their cardigans and wooly jumpers. By then there will be good reason to keep static electricity away from their vehicles. The plug-in electric hybrid Volvo is coming, and it will be a showroom reality by 2012 – including Australia – the company has confirmed.

The Swedish carmaker unveiled the technology in an assuming looking Volvo V70 wagon at the Frankfurt motor show overnight, alongside its facelifted C30 hatch and C70 cabriolet. Apart from the experimental car's stickers and a fuel flap that was actually for a power socket, the V70 looked no different than a regular Volvo station wagon.

In Volvo's case, the plug-in hybrid system is mated to a diesel engine (although Volvo does not specify the size and type). The result is 50km of electric-only driving and a combined driving range of close to 800km.

The technology is not likely to appear in the current generation V70 but a slightly larger wagon due to join the Volvo portfolio in the next couple of years. The powertrain is being jointly developed and jointly funded by Swedish energy firm, Vattenfall.

"We want to reinforce electricity's importance in society and its key role in solving climate issues," says Lars G Josefsson, President and CEO of Vattenfall.

"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."

Volvo's vice president for business development, Paul Gustavsson, told the Carsales Network the company was exploring the potential that hybrids and full electric cars have to offer. He says that battery supply isn't the hurdle that the industry originally suspected.

"There is good supply of lithium, but also lithium is very recyclable. We don't lose it, it's not like burning oil," he said.

"We also believe there will be a new technology that may overtake lithium but if not, it still will be enough."

The real hurdle was the cost. The price of an internal combustion engine accounts for about 25 per cent of the total cost of the car, whereas an electric drivetrain (the electric motor and battery pack) currently accounts for about 60 per cent of the total cost of the car.

"At the moment electric drivetrains are double or triple the cost of internal combustion engines," he said. "But the cost is coming down all the time, plus the running costs of electricity is cheaper [than petrol].

"Just in the last 12 months the cost of battery technology has come down about 30 per cent. It's not the lithium that's expensive it's the manufacturing process that's expensive at the moment. We expect to get another 50 per cent saving at least."

Gustavsson then reiterated the statement that seems to be on every carmakers lips circa 2009: "The more electric cars that come on to the market, the faster the prices of battery packs will come down".

Check out the Carsales Network’s Frankfurt show preview and brand-by-brand summaries. And stay tuned for more Frankfurt show news and first drives in the days to come.

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