Volvo developing range extenders for electric vehicles
Fri 15 July 2011
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Volvo has announced plans to develop and test three new range-extended electric vehicle concepts. The company will build the initial model based on its C30 Electric with an electric range of up to 110 km, increased by 1000 km with assistance from a three-cylinder engine.
According to Volvo, the combustion engine is to be housed at the rear of the car, and supplies power to the front-mounted motor which drives the front wheels and unlike some other range extender vehicles, the combustion engine can also be used to recharge the battery.
Derek Crabb, Vice President Powertrain Engineering at the Volvo Car Corporation said: "Battery cost and size mean that all-electric cars still have a relatively limited operating range. With the range extender, the electric car has its effective range increased by a thousand kilometres - yet with carbon dioxide emissions below 50 g/km."
The second C30-based concept car has a turbocharged 187bhp engine, which primarily drives the rear wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission. Again the range extender increases the electric car's range by more than 1,000 km, in addition to the range of up to 75 km provided by the car's battery pack. The third Volvo V60 concept also uses a parallel-connected range extender, but in this the entire drive package is located under the bonnet. The car can travel up to 31 mph (50 km/h) on electric power alone but is also range extended by 1000 km. All the engines can run on both petrol and ethanol (E85).
The test phase for Volvo's new fleet of range extenders is to begin early in 2012 with support for the project from the Swedish Energy Agency and the EU.
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