Volvo developing EV range extenders

Volvo Car Corporation has announced it is taking the next step in the company's electrification strategy by producing test cars with range extenders - electric cars that are fitted with a combustion engine to increase their effective range. The projects, supported by the Swedish Energy Agency and the EU, encompass three potential technology combinations. Tests of the various concepts will get under way in the first quarter of 2012.
April 19, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSS609 Volvo Car Corporation has announced it is taking the next step in the company's electrification strategy by producing test cars with range extenders - electric cars that are fitted with a combustion engine to increase their effective range. The projects, supported by the Swedish Energy Agency and the EU, encompass three potential technology combinations. Tests of the various concepts will get under way in the first quarter of 2012.

"This is an exciting expansion of our increasing focus on electrification. 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 or way below 50 g/km," says Derek Crabb, VP powertrain engineering at Volvo.
The company's technological developments in this area currently encompass three different technology combinations, with three-cylinder petrol engines being installed to complement electric drive to the front wheels. All the variants feature brake energy regeneration. The engines can run on both petrol and ethanol (E85).

Two of the solutions are based on the Volvo C30 Electric. In both cases, the standard battery pack has been somewhat reduced in size to make room for the combustion engine and its fuel tank.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Electric boats and ships 2017-2027: Large market emerging, says IDTechEx
    January 13, 2017
    Analysts at IDTechEx have issued a new report, Electric Boats and Ships 2017-2027 looking at this fragmented but often highly profitable and growing sector. It says there are already over 100 manufacturers of electric boats and ships. The report finds that the market for hybrid and pure electric boats and ships will rise rapidly to over US$20 billion worldwide in 2027 for non-military versions. The recreational boat market is the largest and fastest growing electric marine market in sales number, followe
    Read More
  • TomTom banishes range anxiety
    March 16, 2021
    High-quality routing and weather information is going to be vital in persuading drivers that electric vehicles will not let them down, thinks TomTom’s Robin van den Berg
    Read More
  • Developing an integrated WIM/ANPR enforcement system
    July 31, 2012
    The weigh in motion market remains especially buoyant and technological development continues to reflect this. Although there are major differences in operating philosophies, particularly between developed and developing countries, both the numbers of countries using Weigh In Motion (WIM) technology and the numbers of systems that they deploy are on the increase.
    Read More
  • Development of cooperative driving applications for work zones
    July 17, 2012
    The German AKTIV project is researching several cooperative driving applications for use in work zones. PTV's Michael Ortgiese details progress. The steep increases in traffic volumes predicted back in the early 1990s have unfortunately been proven to be more than accurate. In Germany, the AKTIV project continues to look into cooperative technologies' potential to reduce the impact of those increased traffic volumes and keep traffic moving despite limitations in infrastructure capacity.
    Read More

Highlighted Content