It’s time to stop counting cylinders
In the last blog entry we mentioned the gas engine isn’t dead. Today Volvo Car Corporation announced that we are far from dead on Internal Combustion (IC) concepts. Next week, at Frankfurt’s International Auto Show, Volvo will unveil more about our future use of IC platforms. The main thrust is that our future will be centered on four cylinder engines. I know that will pique some of your interest, but we’re looking down the barrel of a really nasty environmental future if we don’t pare back our fuel consumption. Either drive less or drive smarter.
In our past we have had as many as three platforms (bottom part of car that holds our driveline, and all the attaching points for the upper car body) running during the same model year. Today we announced moving towards one common platform. Very interesting.
Our latest generation of S40 shares about 60% under pinnings with Ford’s Focus and the Mazda 3. When we first announced this kind of commonality, the media was at our throats about Volvo losing its brand identity. But after doing comparison drives with all three, there clearly was enough significant differences in handling, braking, performance and creature comforts that the issue just died.
That shared platform technology was called: Volvo’s Intelligent Vehicle Architecture (VIVA) and was like a box of Legos. Each brand could pick what component sections they needed or design there own. For example, Mazda used their own front engine compartment design, while we retained what was originally designed for our application.
So where does this leave Volvo? We will have a future with engines that get much better fuel economy with less components (less raw materials), that meet customer’s expectations for whichever Volvo they choose. It means we will have lighter bodied cars that will also help reduce fuel economy. We will have one platform technology that will reduce manufacturing complexity, yet still retain all of the Volvo attributes we desire for our unique family of cars.
Here’s more about this Volvo evolution:
Volvo Car Corporation’s world-class technology initiative:
New downsized engine range – without compromising luxury or driving pleasure
The Volvo Car Corporation is taking the next step towards zero emissions and climate impact through a new, downsized engine range consisting solely of four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.
“It’s time to stop counting cylinders. At the Frankfurt Motor Show we will reveal a new concept car. It proves that downsized engines can go hand in hand with our customers’ expectations on luxury and driving pleasure,” says Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President Research and Development at the Volvo Car Corporation.
The Volvo Car Corporation’s upcoming four-cylinder VEA (Volvo Environmental Architecture) engine range includes common rail diesels and direct injected petrol engines. It covers the whole range from high power and torque variants to fuel-efficient derivatives.
“Our four-cylinder focus is the perfect way for us to quickly reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. We will develop four-cylinder engines with higher performance than today’s six-cylinder units and lower fuel consumption than the current four-cylinder generation,” continues Peter Mertens.
The new VEA engines reduce the number of unique parts by 60 percent. The new powertrains are also up to 90 kg lighter than the present ones and fuel economy is improved by up to 35 percent.
Pioneering flywheel technology
Modularity and compact transverse design are also ideal for future electrification developments. To cover all customer requirements, certain engines will gain added performance via hybrid or other spearhead technology, such as flywheel drive.
Later this autumn, for instance, the Volvo Car Corporation will become one of the first car makers in the world to test the potential of flywheel drive on public roads. The so-called KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) captures braking energy in a flywheel that spins at up to 60,000 revs a minute. Once released, this stored energy can either accelerate the car or propel the vehicle once it reaches cruising speed.
“The flywheel system offers the driver an additional 80 horsepower while reducing fuel consumption by up to 20 percent,” says Peter Mertens.
Competing with the best
The Volvo Car Corporation will promote economies of scale within the company’s own model range via a new vehicle architecture: SPA (Scalable Platform Architecture). SPA allows most Volvo models to be built on the same production line irrespective of vehicle size and complexity.
“We’re taking our technological future into our own hands. Both our new architecture and the new engine range will enable us to be on par or even beat our toughest competitors in crucial areas such as driving dynamics and fuel economy,” says Peter Mertens.
Volvo takes the lead in lightweight design
In addition to the industrial benefits of common vehicle architecture there are also significant product-related advantages. The Volvo Car Corporation will take the lead in automotive lightweight design with upcoming SPA models being 100-150 kg lighter than current models of the same size.
The new architecture enables electrification at all levels – and new chassis technologies combined with the lower weight and improved weight distribution will boost driving dynamics. The electrical architecture is the backbone of the company’s drive to reinforce its leading position in active safety.
Promoting exciting design
The new concept car unveiled next week in Frankfurt also shows that SPA offers the Volvo Car Corporation’s design team greater freedom to give forthcoming Volvo models more exciting looks.
“The new architecture means we can sharpen our design language, carving out just the right athletic and dynamic aura that is so important to the most demanding prestige car buyers. The Frankfurt concept car is a great example of what we can achieve with the new architecture,” relates Peter Horbury, Vice President Design at the Volvo Car Corporation.
Posted in Environment, four cylinder engine, fuel efficiency, Volvo Car Corporation | 5 Comments »
Will Volvo stop doing crash tests in 10 years?
We got this interesting question on Twitter a few days ago, and it deserves some Volvo discussion.
The question doesn’t have a simple answer. In 10 years, when most new cars will have some level of pre-crash technology – much like most cars today have some level of ABS – we will still need to run verification crash testing. Crash testing is used to not only validate each new car model’s body structure (that it meets what we had intended to achieve), but for market by market compliance with governmental standards. I suspect that governments will be slower to change their standards than a car manufacturer’s ability to make safer vehicles that use pre-crash technologies.
Thinking along those same lines is Thomas Broberg, our lead safety engineer at VCC in Sweden, who was recently asked if weight is taken out of cars to get better fuel economy, would that negatively impact vehicle structural safety? Darn simple question…sort of. Thomas said, “…my point being that I do not see any contradiction in being fuel efficient and safe, some challenges yes but we will take them one by one as we move towards our Vision 2020 goal. Also, that part of our increased fuel efficiency is electrification and that actually means cars will be heavier, (dan: our C30 EV is about 200 pounds heavier than non-EV C30) which is beneficial in some situations and challenging in others.”
Thomas’ approach is that we have to think holistically about fuel economy. Just removing weight isn’t the solution, at least for Volvo. How do we meet Vision 2020 (zero deaths or serious injuries in a Volvo by year 2020) and still improve fuel economy? According to many industry experts, the internal combustion engine is not dead. There are ways to combine small displacement, low carbon output engines with PHEV technology to fulfill our need for long distance driving and short city commutes.
dan
Posted in C30, C30 Electric, crash test, Electrification, Environment, fuel efficiency, future, safety, Vision 2020 | Comments OffA Possible World’s First
After doing a quick Google search, all I could find were animations of simulated car crash tests. Here’s a 3D video of our crash test for the C30 Electric. We’re taking the car to House of Sweden next week to show media and government officials what we are doing with future safety systems.
I’ve not a clue where to find 3D glasses so you are on your own. Hey, if you know where to get those glasses, post it here. Thanks.
dan
Posted in C30 Electric, crash test, Environment, safety | Comments OffFuel economy – one step at a time
I just got back from a large gathering of automotive journalists in Elkhart Lake, WI, and now I’m sitting in the airport waiting for our delayed flight home. About 50 manufacturing folks and a good 100 journalists were there, to drive each others cars and meet/greet for a couple of days.
I was test driving a Smart car and the guy in front was doing no more than 30 mph and coasting to a stop in a Honda. The guy I was with said the Honda driver is a ‘hyper mileage driver’. Interesting. He coasts to stop signs, shuts off his car and coasts into parking lots, well you get the idea. Granted, he probably gets fantastic mileage but you can imagine how unsafe his habits are to himself and others.
Fuel economy isn’t about hyper mileage driving, it’s about being safe and fuel efficient. Here is one way we are working towards that end.
dan
Volvo Car Corporation tests flywheel technology
- cuts fuel consumption with up to 20 percent
A light, cheap and very eco-efficient solution that makes a four-cylinder engine feel like a six at the same time as fuel consumption drops with up to 20 percent. This autumn, Volvo Car Corporation will be one of the world’s first car makers to test the potential of flywheel technology on public roads. The company has received a grant of 6.57 million Swedish kronor from the Swedish Energy Agency for developing next-generation technology for kinetic recovery of braking energy in a joint project together with Volvo Powertrain and SKF.
“Our aim is to develop a complete system for kinetic energy recovery. Tests in a Volvo car will get under way in the second half of 2011. This technology has the potential for reducing fuel consumption by up to 20 percent. What is more, it gives the driver an extra horsepower boost, giving a four-cylinder engine acceleration like a six-cylinder unit,” relates Derek Crabb, Vice President VCC Powertrain Engineering.
60,000 revs per minute
The new system, known as Flywheel KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), is fitted to the rear axle. During retardation, the braking energy causes the flywheel to spin at up to 60,000 revs per minute. When the car starts moving off again, the flywheel’s rotation is transferred to the rear wheels via a specially designed transmission.
The combustion engine that drives the front wheels is switched off as soon as the braking begins. The energy in the flywheel can be used to accelerate the vehicle when it is time to move off once again, or to power the vehicle once it reaches cruising speed.
“The flywheel’s stored energy is sufficient to power the car for short periods. However, this has a major impact on fuel consumption. Our calculations indicate that the combustion engine will be able to be turned off about half the time when driving according to the official New European Driving Cycle,” explains Derek Crabb.
Since the flywheel is activated by braking and the duration of the energy storage – that is to say the length of time the flywheel spins – is limited, the technology is at its most effective during driving featuring repeated stops and starts. In other words, the fuel savings will be greatest when driving in busy urban traffic as well as during active driving.
If the energy in the flywheel is combined with the combustion engine’s full capacity, it will give the car an extra boost of 80 horsepower, and thanks to the swift torque build-up this translates into rapid acceleration, cutting 0 to 100 km/h figures significantly.
Carbon fibre for a lightweight and compact solution
Flywheel propulsion assistance was tested in a Volvo 240 already back in the 1980s, and flywheels made of steel have been evaluated by various manufacturers in recent times. However, since a unit made of steel is large and heavy and has rather limited rotational capacity, this is not a viable alternative.
The flywheel that Volvo Car Corporation will use in its test car is made of carbon fibre. It weighs about six kilograms and has a diameter of 20 centimetres. The carbon fibre wheel spins in a vacuum to minimise frictional losses.
“We are not the first manufacturer to test flywheel technology. But nobody else has applied it to the rear axle of a car fitted with a combustion engine driving the front wheels. If the tests and technical development go as planned, we expect cars with flywheel technology to reach the showrooms within a few years,” says Derek Crabb. He concludes: “The flywheel technology is relatively cheap. It can be used in a much larger volume of our cars than top-of-the-line technology such as the plug-in hybrid. This means that it has potential to play a major role in our CO2-cutting DRIVe Towards Zero strategy.”
Posted in Environment, news, Technology | 4 Comments »An Interesting Way to Charge C30 Electric
A few months back, Lennart Stegland, head of special vehicles, meaning all our really cool project cars, and I were talking about how the future would be for recharging cars. Here’s a glimpse into that future.
Volvo Car Corporation participates in a project for the development of inductive charging for electric cars
Volvo Car Corporation is participating in an inductive charging project. Together with Belgian technological and development specialists Flanders’ Drive and others, Volvo Car Corporation is developing systems and methods that need neither power sockets nor charging cables. With inductive charging, energy is transferred wirelessly to the car’s battery via a charging plate buried in the road surface.
“The aim is naturally that it should be as convenient as possible to own and use an electric car,” explains Johan Konnberg, project manager from the Special Vehicles division of Volvo Car Corporation. A Volvo C30 Electric will be delivered to Flanders’ Drive on May 19 to be modified for inductive charging. The handover also marks the formal starting signal for the project, which goes under the name of CED (Continuous Electric Drive). Other participants in addition to Volvo Car Corporation and Flanders’ Drive, which is owned by the Belgian state, are bus manufacturer Van Hool and tram manufacturer Bombardier.
Wireless energy transfer
In inductive charging, a charging plate is buried in the ground, for instance in the driveway at home where the car is parked. The charging plate consists of a coil that generates a magnetic field. When the car is parked above the plate, energy from the plate is transferred without physical contact to the car’s inductive pick-up. The energy that is transferred is alternating current. This is then converted into direct current in the car’s built-in voltage converter, which in turn charges the car’s battery pack. Charging a battery pack of the size fitted to the Volvo C30 Electric, 24 kWh, is expected to take about an hour and twenty minutes, if the battery is entirely discharged. The charging system to be evaluated is dimensioned for 20 kW.
Development and knowledge acquisition
Several car makers and technology companies are conducting research into this area but as yet there are no car manufacturers that can offer the market a finished product.
“There is not yet any common standard for inductive charging,” says Johan Konnberg.
He emphasises the importance of being involved in development and learning about the technology in order to build up a solid bank of expertise in this area.
“One aspect of this project is to integrate this technology into the road surface and to take energy directly from there to power the car. This is a smart solution that is some way into the future,” concludes Johan Konnberg.
The Volvo C30 Electric is part of Volvo Car Corporation’ ambitious electrification strategy. It is as well-equipped, comfortable, sporty and safe as the standard car – while at the same time offering the driver a range of up to 150 kilometres per charge with zero carbon dioxide emissions.
Deliveries of the initial batch of 250 cars to selected customers in Europe will begin during the second half of 2011.
So taking this another step forward, what if at stop lights there was a recharging grid system that would read your car’s ID, put in a charge for 1 minute, then disconnect when the light turns green. Or as you’re driving down the 405 in CA with bumper to bumper traffic, buried recharge grids keep your ‘fuel tank’ topped off. Interesting.
dan
Posted in C30 Electric, Environment | 3 Comments »Not that I need to burden you with a project but
UPDATE: March 29th. Good video review. http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/25/volvo-c30-electric-test-drive-video/
UPDATE: March 24th. Our event went perfectly. What started as a can of worms turned into a delightful five course dinner. Everything came together perfectly thanks to everyone in our NJ office and Volvo Car Coporation in Sweden, to the three trucking companies, and staff at Chelsea Pier. After we finishedhen we started to unload our two cars, back at our NJ headquarters, one wouldn’t start. From what we can tell, something in the battery electronic controller system might be working – sometimes. Thank goodness it didn’t happen during media drives, but it is a test car and we expect problems to pop up. Here are two videos reports from Chelsea Piers:
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/03/24/volvos-ethanol-powered-electric-car/
Have a great weekend. dan
UPDATE: Monday 21st: 
Plugged in and getting ready for media event tomorrow.
===============================================================================
What a week! We have our first journalist ride event for C30 Electric next week in NYC. Later next week we’re hosting an event at our battery supplier, Ener1, in Indianapolis.
In our world, we have different grades of vehicle production. For our C30 Electric, we started with two VP cars, meaning very early production, meaning it works but with fingers crossed and lots of technical support. So we have two VP cars here and we used them at the Los Angeles auto show last November, then in Detroit, Washington DC, and at the NY show next month. One vehicle is working, and the other has some minor problems, which is expected from VP production. The running one will be our backup car for our NY event.
Our Electric Vehicles group, headed by Lennart Stegland, just sent two TT cars, meaning ‘much better than VP but still need to be babied a little.” One vehicle is for the NY event and one is for the Ener1 event. So they just finished both cars last week and, with fingers crossed, they will arrive this Friday.
Around May/June we will get eight PP C30 Electric cars for media to drive for a week, to basically live with a C30 Electric for a week. PP is about the last group in pre-production. Good quality and they ‘should’ work well. Actually I’m looking forward to loaning out these cars to U.S. media. And please don’t ask to take one for a test drive, I get one first and mine is still a ways off.
What this boils down to is one insanely insane week. We’ll post photos next week.
dan
Posted in Environment | 2 Comments »An ELECTRIC event this week in Detroit
Volvo C30 DRIVe Electric crash test
40 mph offset impact test
I’m at this year’s North America International Auto Show in (really cold) Detroit, where on Tuesday we will unveil a crash tested Volvo C30 DRIVe Electric, the world’s first showing of safety in an electric car.
Our focus is to bring the same kind of safety engineering leadership we do with all our cars into our EV program. Yeah, I know, “Isn’t that what you are suppose to do?” While dealing with an electric power system, the concept of passenger and first responder (fire/police/EMT) protection is the same, but the execution is different. The challenge is, and will continue to be, to protect people in an accident regardless of what kind of engine we use.
I’ll post some video when I can figure out how to stuff a 20 meg file into a 2 meg hole. 
Dan
Posted in C30, crash test, Detroit Auto Show, Environment, news, safety, Technology | 5 Comments »Every Little Bit Adds Up – 2011 S60 Regenerative Charging
I was going though technical specs and found a bit of technology that’s rather slick. Regenerative Charging (RC) is used in our S60s electrical system to reduce carbon output and increase fuel economy.
RC is an intelligent control of the alternator charging function. By changing the alternator charge level parameters, when the driver uses the brake pedal, the alternator is signaled to start generating electricity. This takes unused engine horsepower and powers the alternator to charge the vehicle battery.
I asked Anders Wogel in our Rockleigh office to explain:
“A simple control strategy would be to ‘switch on’ the alternator only when the driver is braking and ‘switch off’ the alternator in all other situations. RC braking does require a BMS (Battery Monitoring System) to keep track of the battery condition. RC is used on vehicles with Start/Stop technology (part of the DRIVe concept in Europe).
Best regards Anders Wogel, QAT satellite EESE, EMS”
Anders further explained that the control strategy is if the battery needs more power during normal driving, the system reverts to conventional charging parameters. If the battery system is charged, we use a sliding curve algorithm that determines what to do between totally off and maximum charge output, to optimize Regenerative Charging opportunities to charge the battery.
RC is one of those clever little technological tweaks that helps reduce our carbon output – bit by bit.
Dan
Posted in design, Environment, General, S60 | Comments OffBang Bang
Got to love crash tests with audio. Of course, being Volvo and with electric cars in our future, it makes very Volvo sense to do lots of crash tests. This is of our C30 Electric with full battery pack and complete power system inside engine compartment. Nice underside shot of the two battery packs. Wonder what kind of music would go with this?
dan
Posted in C30, Environment | 3 Comments »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
Posted in C30, Environment, Quality of Life | 13 Comments »
