C30 Electric starts limited production this Fall
We still have a ways to go before this comes to our shores but an end must start somewhere.
Volvo C30 Electric ready for delivery
Volvo Cars and energy company Göteborg Energi yesterday signed a letter of intent regarding cooperation in the area of electrical vehicles and recharge infrastructure. Within the terms of the agreement Volvo provides 10 Volvo C30 Electric cars with delivery start during the autumn.
“This is a landmark first step,” says Lennart Stegland, director of the Volvo Car Corporation’s Special Vehicles division.
The Volvo C30 Electric project has attracted immense international attention. Volvo Cars has received visits from many potential overseas customers, but the first confirmed user is Swedish.
“Ten cars will be delivered starting this autumn. The Volvo C30 Electric is a natural part of our focus on DRIVe products, with the aim of promoting a sustainable society. We are happy with the cooperation with Göteborg Energi. What is more, it’s happening in Volvo’s home town of Göteborg,” says Lennart Stegland.
The cars in the demo fleet are equipped with advanced measuring instruments. It is important for Volvo Cars to build up additional know-how about how parameters such as driving habits and charging patterns affect the battery and lifetime of the electric car.
The Volvo C30 Electric has the same safety, comfort and interior space as the standard Volvo C30. The difference is that the C30 Electric is powered solely by electricity – so it has absolutely no exhaust emissions on the road.
90 miles on one charge
If the car is recharged using electricity from renewable sources, travel is virtually free from carbon dioxide emissions. The range is up to 150 km on a single battery charge.
“That’s way further than 90 percent of commuters in Europe cover on a daily basis. The car could be used for the average family’s everyday commuting needs,” says Lennart Stegland.
The Volvo C30 Electric is powered by a lithium-ion battery that is charged from a regular mains power socket. A completely depleted battery takes about eight hours to recharge.
The car has a top speed of about 130 kilometres per hour and accelerates from zero to one hundred in 10.5 seconds. Volvo Cars’ electric car project currently encompasses about 250 vehicles.
“However, with more customers we would of course be able to expand our production series,” says Lennart Stegland.
Electric cars are the future
He is convinced that electric cars will gain a major foothold in the market.
“By 2020 about 5-10 percent of cars in Sweden are expected to be electric. By 2020-2025 we believe that electric cars will account for 3-10 percent of the market share in the EU countries. Different markets have different preconditions,” adds Lennart Stegland.
Göteborg Energi comments the letter of intent signing and the cooperation with Volvo Cars to build its first 10 electric cars as follows:
“We believe in the future of the electric car and are extremely proud that we will be the first recipients of electric vehicles from Volvo Cars. We work to promote a sustainable society in Göteborg so to participate in the development of new infrastructure for safe electric cars and cooperate with Volvo Cars at such an early stage feels absolutely right,” explains Anders Hedenstedt, President of Göteborg Energi.
dan
13 Comments
Great stuff! Now let’s get them over to NA. And diesels too!
Yes, we know. Problem with diesels are that we build to European emission standards, which is based on CO while we consider NOx to be most important. IMHO we should have standard global standards for diesels, or at best EU and NA. While cars wouldn’t be cheaper, at least we would have product. For us, to build to US spec for even 5% of total volumn pontential is difficult to justify financially. Believe me we are keenly aware of why we need it here. As to Electric….I can hardly wait.
Kind regards,
dan
Awesome! I was going to get on the list for a Nissan Leaf but since Japan is slaughtering the worlds whales I really can’t buy a Japanese car in good conscience. I will buy a car like this though – in a heart-beat especially if they can add another 20-30 miles of range. I really don’t care about the price. Bring it on!
Hi Keith,
My guess is right now those 50 cars will cost us about $100,000 ok, maybe 75k but each is hand build by very talented Swedish hands. We’re talking about bringing one over for Los Angeles Auto Show later this year. Where are you located?
dan
Keith,
Just talked to our ‘Science Officer’, honest we have one. Ich siad that B/C sized cars have limited space for battery storage, hence range is limited to about 90 miles. Bigger cars CD-D sized Tesla Model S will squeeze out 300 miles. I suspect as battery technolgy improves, we’ll get more range. There is a project we’ve been working on that uses non-structural plastic components to store electricty for power, not range but there maybe other benifits to this kind of thinking that will help extend range.
dan
Hi Dan,
I am preparing my master thesis named Specifics of the dynamic characteristics within the EV. I need more technical info regarding the power and torque curve of the motor, type of the motor, final gear transmission rate and other transmission ratios if any, battery characteristics-mass, capacity, voltage.I am awara I an not ask for the inverter characteristics but all info will be welcome. Also I need photos. For all materilas I need authorization that I may use it in my master thesis.
Best regards
Thanks
Hello Sinisa,
Summer Holiday season has taken it’s share of Volvo workers for next couple of weeks. Our enegry guy is on holiday and we’re not able to get answers until he returns. Hope this does not cause problems with your project.
dan
Dear Dan,
My name is Liz Hilton. I live in Seattle, WA. I am ecstatic about this car and would like to purchase one immediately.
I have been waiting patiently for the last 3years for a beaultifully designed all electric vehicle to finally be available.
The last car I owned was a ’99 Range Rover. 3 years ago, I could not in good conscience continue to drive it as my every day car. I ended up leasing a Mercedes E350 and was planning on giving the Nissan Leaf a try. The Tesla, although the power is impressive and my husband loves it,it is too much of a toy car for me. Who knows when the Fiskar will ship and I just couldn’t do the Chevy Volt.
Please advise me on how I can purchase one. My life is ideal for this type of car. I drive 20 miles outside of Seattle 3x times a week, otherwise it is all stop and go city traffic.
Warm regards,
Liz Hilton
p.s. I am in Europe for the next 2 weeks of August. I know everyone is on holiday but is there any chance I can pick one up over here for a better price and ship home? I can even return in Sept if that is better timing.
Dear Dan,
Can you tell me what are the safety concerns with driving around with a “high pressure” battery.
Also, what is the expected battery life and how much will a replacement battery cost?
Thank you.
Best,
Liz Hilton
Hi Liz,
Hope your trip to Europe was enjoyable.
Hi Elis
What we are doing is large fleet test evaluations in Sweden. With this group of 50 C30′s and another group of V70 we are doing real world cycle testing. The C30 fleet is split into three groups starting early next year. There are no production plans right now for units beyond these two fleet tests. For many American’s this kind of vehicle is ideal. One vision of our (industry) future would be this kind of small urban car for daily use and one larger more conventional power for long drives.
Good questions about safety. This video is very interesting. It’s a 30 mph pole test, much tough on the vehicle because forces are not spread out like would be in a 30 mph barrier test. Here impact in directly into the motor and controller area (seen in the overhead images, the red/orange area) and into the battery locations (underside green areas). We have done similar testing with rear impacts both in C30 and V70 models.
I went to EnerDel earlier this year, our battery pack for C30, and they showed me how the batter is electronically isolated in an accident, to help avoid putting electricity into the body structure. As to pressurized gas, I don’t know what system is in place but certain it will do as designed to help avoid that kind of issue. http://www.volvoblog.us/?s=bang
Battery life and costs, I honestly don’t’ think that issue is solved. From what I’ve heard through EnerDel is the battery will have a second life. In cars we need the battery to have Power (lots of volts), and Storage (lots of cells to hold lots of Volts). As the battery ages the ability to hold power decreases, much like when your flash light battery is dying, it still has storage but not much power. With car battery packs there is a value to this storage system. Can they be packed into storage containers to hold wind generated power until needed – maybe. Along with other ideas, those have monetary value. So just to price a replacement cost at this time is almost impossible.
One point that has always been clear, that regardless of kind of automotive power is used there has to be a price/value relationship that consumers will accept.
Hope this helps to understand what we are doing and how we are handling safety with electric cars.
dan
Hi Dan,
So are you saying all 50 C30′s will only be tested in Sweden? What did you mean about the C30′s being split into 3 groups?
Will one of those groups be tested in the US? If so, how did you apply to help beta test them?
Thanks.
-L
Morning LIz,
Yes, some in Northern Sweden, really cold climate testing, some around Gothenburg for urban driving, and some in Southern Sweden where the climate is much warmer and they can grow palm trees, pick mangos and order drinks with umbrellas in them. Well not really that warm but more for drive testing. We are getting a couple (2) here but will not be in any external test fleet. Logistically, for us to send cars around US is impossible. No one can work on them but our guys, so unless we use lots more cars, in one location, this kind of testing is impossible.
dan
I’m crushed to hear that I can’t get my hands on one. At least the industry is moving in the right direction.
How long will this real world testing phase last? Any ideas when they will ship the first model in the US?
If there is a chance they want to test in our lovely constant rain I’m here for you.
Best,
Liz