As we know from their previous versions, Volvo Drive-E Powertrain are marvels of engineering, combining efficiency with performance in a way that makes advocates of both parties extremely happy. They have now revealed a new Drive-E with 450 horsepower, and it’s a 2.0 Liter four-cylinder unit.

Yep, you read that right. They have extracted 450 horsepower from 2.0 liter capacity. In order to achieve this amazing feat, Volvo engineers had to fit the new engine with a number of ‘firsts’.

The High Performance Volvo Drive-E Powertrain Concept, as it’s known, features two parallel turbochargers, which are fed by an electrically powered turbo-compressor. So the compressed air from this unit is used to spool up the parallel turbo instead of going into the cylinders. Sounds odd, but apparently it eliminated turbo lag. The engine also has a dual fuel pump system working at 250 bar pressure which also contributes to the responsiveness of the whole system.

The economy figures are yet to be announced for this powertrain, but if the previous members of this family are any indication, it will as astounding as the power figure. This concept is still very much an experiment, but the idea could be applied to production units in the near future.

“When we launched the Drive-E powertrain family, our aim was to deliver the most advanced 4-cylinder engines in the industry based on emissions and fuel consumption relative to performance and drivability. We knew that 320 hp in our petrol configuration was just a starting point. The 450 hp High Performance Drive-E Powertrain Concept, demonstrates this ambition and the versatility of the Drive-E Powertrains,” says Dr. Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President for Research and Development at Volvo Car Group.