Electric Vehicles, or EVs, are the future. Or so the automakers say. And they would be correct, if it wasn’t for a significant disadvantage over petrol or diesel powered models: their abysmal range which makes them suitable only for limited city use.
Volvo is taking measures to solve this problem and make its EVs attractive to the public by adding an extra 1,000 km (621 miles) to their range. The solution, which has also been adopted by other models such as the Chevrolet Volt and the Audi A1 E-Tron concept, is the addition of a “range extender” internal combustion engine.
Swedish carmaker Volvo is expanding its lineup with the introduction of two new models, the top-end S80 Executive sedan and the sportier loooking V70 R-Design station wagon.
Starting with Volvo’s premium sedan model, a special badge on the C-pillar hints at the enhanced features inside, which include a leather wrapped instrument panel, ventilated soft leather seats with massage function, leather-covered door panels, an aluminum center console storage compartment and an analogue clock on the dashboard. The extra thick carpets and an optional fridge in the rear seat that comes with a set of Swedish crystal glasses round off the equipment upgrades.
Volvo announced that it will offer a number of upgrades for its new model year V70, XC70 and S80, including the introduction of the latest iteration of its infotainment system as well as refined D5 and D3 diesel engines with increased performance and lower fuel consumption.
The V70 PHEV test auto utilizes a 11. 3 kWh lithium ion electric storage device pack. As reported by the test drivers, the V70 Plug in Hybrid demonstrators have an every electric run in the middle of 20 kilometres (12 mi) to 30 kilometres (19 mi) . The demonstrators were raised with a bind to permit test drivers to manually prefer in the middle of power or diesel motor capacity at at whatever time. The leading phase of the field trial finished in June 2010 and combined 16 households, all representatives of Volvo or Vattenfall, who had the auto for 1. 5 weeks to one month. A second phase of the test heads from July off to December 2010 with Vattenfall representatives in Stockholm.
