Comments on: Volvo Gets Serious about Plug-in Hybrids

By: William Dryden

William Dryden — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:24:40 +0000

There is a company in Australia that makes 450 kW electric differentials. They will take a 40 ton truck 0-60 in 21 seconds. I expect to see hybrids but no EVs as the limited range would hamper OTR 18-wheelers.

UPS is looking at hydraulic hybrids for local deliveries. They are testing 50 of them now. I expect maintenance to be a nightmare once the trucks get a little mileage on them. Electric serial hybrids, plug-in or not, make much more sense to me as trains have been made that way for the last 80 years.

By: Schakel

Schakel — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 11:50:03 +0000

Great,

Volvo will draw a lot of attention with this. I hope they make their cars lighter without losing their safety. Aluminium, Composites frame?

By: Jan

Jan — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:40:48 +0000

I think I have found my plug-in electric hybrid. I have a 2000 V70 and will trade this one in for this 2012 V70 plug-in hybrid diesel. The big question is, will Volvo import this one to the US?

By: jeff

jeff — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 04:00:15 +0000

We need higher taxes on gas to push efficiency and reduce demand for oil.
At the same time this extra revenue needs to go towards research into battery and renewable Energy technology.
There is not enough oil to last forever.
There is too much smog, too much asthma, too much cancer, too much war.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:12:06 +0000

I listened to the video, and was a bit underwhelmed. They view nuclear power and “clean” coal as their non-polluting method for creating electricity. I thought they were trying to be innovative, not backward. Neither of those ways of producing electrical power takes us toward a sustainable, resilient future. Admittedly, they said their goal was being oil-free, but they are only exchanging one problem for another.

By: Caligula

Caligula — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:17:37 +0000

Wonder if they will put the electric motors in the wheels as in the concept car. Think about it. No need to transfer power from the motor to the wheel means a lighter car (few steel parts to make the wheels turn) and then the job of the diesel engine is simply to re-charge the batteries.

By: patrick

patrick — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:20:40 +0000

They will substitute oil derived diesel with sustainable bio diesel. They don’t need to junk the cars. This is the global solution to escape from fossil fuel dependency: reduce fuel demand by steadily introducing hybrid and electric technologies, whilst simultaneously introducing sustainable biofuels to replace the ever decreasing global fuel requirement. A carbon tax gradually increasing would be beneficial and neutral for consumers as they would use less fuel so total cost would remain stable. Tax revenue would subsidise new cars, biofuels and public transport improvements.

By: Octavius

Octavius — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:00:07 +0000

Am all for plug-in hybrids (even though I can't afford them myself) because that's the bridge from the oil age to the electric age of transportation.

Just one question though: Even if every car sold in Sweden starting tomorrow were 100% electric, wouldn't almost half of the cars on the street today still be around in 2020? Hard to imagine they are going to junk all those babies to just to be "oil-free" in 10.5 years. That, and I haven't heard of anyone proposing all-electric semi-trailer trucks just yet -- we'll be waiting a while for that, I'm guessing.

By: ACAgal

ACAgal — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:47:12 +0000

Wonder when these cars will be in the USA? Volvo usually does car right!