The new variant of Volvo C30 which is a pure electric vehicle is now fully transformed from a prototype into an actual production model. But Volvo wants to put it on a two-year trial period before they start selling it to people in 2011, so they can study the car in real world condition and use the experiences to make it as good as possible. Great!
The C30 EV looks and feels like a regular C30 and offers the same qualities, best of which should be its handsome looks. In 2010 a fleet of 50 factory-built cars will be handed to a selected group of users for the road trial. Like so Volvo’s experts will have the opportunity to study how normal people (and not pro test drivers!) handle this different lifestyle really, because an EV has a very different character than an internal combustion engine.
The car is simply called BEV for Battery Electric Vehicle and is powered by Lithium-Ion batteries that can be recharged via either a regular household power socket or special roadside charging stations. A full charge can take up to eight hours and with that the car can cover a range of 150 km (94 miles) and achieve top speed of 130 km/h (81 mph). Acceleration from 0 to 60 mph takes less than 11 seconds.
Technical specification
- Car model: Volvo C30 – full four seater
- Main engine: Electric engine 40/82KW
- Power output: Electric engine 82kW, 111 bhp
- Acceleration 0-100 km/h: 10.5 seconds
- Charging duration: Charging via standard power socket, 230 V, 16 ampere: < 8 hours
- Range on electric power: 150 km (NEDC cycle)
- Battery energy content: 24 kWh nominal energy, of which 22.7 kWh used to power the car
- Battery weight: 280 kg
- Carbon dioxide emissions (tailpipe): none
