Volvo C30 News

  • Volvo V60 plug-in hybrid prototype

    German electronics giant Siemens is no stranger to electric motors or electric cars -- and now it has announced a formal partnership with the Volvo Car Corporation to work on a new generation of electric car technology. Confirmed at a joint press conference held in Munich, Germany, the two companies outlined their plans for the partnership. Initially, the partnership will be geared towards Volvo’s existing C30 electric and V60 Plug-in Hybrid cars, but will then extend to a new car platform which Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby hinted could be debuted at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show. The...

  • Volvo C30 Electric
    2012 Volvo C30 Electric: 250 Available In Europe This Fall

    If you're one of our European readers who's had his or her sights set on leasing a Volvo C30 Electric, we have good news and bad news. First the good news: Volvo has announced plans to start producing the C30 Electric for European customers this fall. The bad news? The company is only making 250 of...

  • Inductive battery charging illustration from Volvo
    Volvo Tests Inductive Charging (Just In Time For The C30 Electric)

    EV automakers face an uphill road. Not only do they have to make great looking cars that offer all the amenities of their gas-engined equivalents, but they've also got to assuage public concerns about the EV charging infrastructure -- an infrastructure that lies largely outside their control. Now...

  • E-Ride EXV2
    Electric Cars Tested in Antarctica For Ultimate Cold Weather Test

    It’s a well-known fact that just like humans, electric cars work best in temperate climates. But what is the coldest temperature an electric car needs to be operational in? And just how do you test that? While we’ve proven that cars like the 2011 Tesla Roadster can more than adequately...

  • Volvo C30 Electric
    Volvo C30 Electric: For Lease, At More Than $2,000 Per Month?

    Would you pay more than two grand a month to drive an electric Volvo? Apparently, the automaker thinks that there are at least a few people or businesses that will. Volvo Cars Special Vehicles president Lennart Stegland said that Volvo plans to offer the C30 Electric for lease—at a price of...

  • Winter Testing Volvo C30
    (Video) Volvo C30 Electric: Winter Temperatures Halves Range

    Can electric cars handle cold weather? It s a question which we’ve seen answered time and time again by the auto industry and journalists in an attempt prove or disprove that electric cars can operate in extremes of cold weather. We’ve seen Californian-designed Tesla sports cars...

  • Volvo C30 Electric

    Volvo is well known in the automotive world for its safety record. In fact, Volvo is so concerned with safety that it is driving towards a future goal of having no fatalities or casualties in any of its cars by 2050. So what happens when you combine Volvo’s legendary safety record with its very first all-electric car, the C30 Electric? Back in January, we saw first hand how Volvo protected the C30 Electric’s sensitive lithium-ion battery pack, drivetrain and passengers with a newly designed energy-absorbing substructure in the C30’s under-hood area. For sure, the front-end...

  • Volvo C30 Electric
    2012 Volvo C30 Electric: European Test-Drive

    At six years old, the Volvo C30 has come of age. Popular in Europe as Volvo’s safety-conscious answer to the hot hatchback. With a range of engine options available, the four-seat hatchback represents Volvo’s lightest and smallest car. It comes as no surprise then that it is the model...

  • Volvo C30 DRIVe Electric car, 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show
    Volvo’s Upcoming Plug-in Vehicles: What do YOU Want to Know?

    Let’s be honest: Volvo isn’t the first company that comes to mind when thinking of electric vehicles. In fact, until the display of a crashed C30 Electric at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show earlier this year we’ve seen very little from Volvo’s plug-in fleet except a few...

  • Volvo C30 electric car after crash testing. Photo by Joe Nuxoll.
    Electric Car Crashes? Just As Safe As Any Other Volvo

    Despite thousands of automotive gasoline fires in the U.S. every year, we've pretty much normalized the risks of the highly explosive liquid that we use to fuel our cars. But for electric cars, there's a whole new set of potential fears. One may be driving through water--it's not like tossing a...

  • Volvo C30 Electric crash test
    2011 Detroit Auto Show: Volvo Shows Off Crashed Electric C30

    You might think that having a twisted lump of metal on your auto show stand probably isn't the best way to promote your latest product. Most manufacturers would agree with you. The customers tend to prefer cars shinier and in one piece. Volvo aren't "most manufacturers" though and they've never...

  • Volvo C30 DRIVe Electric car, 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show
    2010 LA Auto Show: Volvo C30 DRIVe Electric First Drive Report

    One of the great things about auto shows is the chance for journalists to drive prototype cars, especially at the Los Angeles Auto Show, known for its green-car test drives. We got a chance to spend 20 minutes behind the wheel of the Volvo C30 DRIVe Electric car, with Volvo's Lennart Stegland in...

  • Volvo C30 Battery Electric Vehicle, shown at 2010 Detroit Auto Show

    It isn’t clear when the switch happened, but at some point automotive manufacturers decided that electric vehicles (EVs) were worth investing valuable R&D monies. Recently, AllSmallCars.com has reported on the Chevrolet Volt and the numerous awards it is winning from the automotive press, the Nissan LEAF, the announcement of the first markets to receive the Ford Focus EV and the worldwide debut of the Honda Fit EV at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. Electric cars seem to be all the rage in today’s industry (okay, so it may have taken a couple decades for them to become almost...

  • Volvo C30 electric concept, 2010 Detroit Auto Show
    Update: Volvo To Test All Electric 2012 C30 In California

    Earlier this year we were all excited to hear about Volvo’s offering to the world of electric vehicles - the Volvo C30 EV. Debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in January, the S40-based car offered a eight hour recharging time using a 240V, 16A supply, a 24-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery and a...

  • 2010 Paris Auto Show: Volvo C30 DRIVe Electric
    Volvo Turns Gasoline To Hydrogen To Make Electric Cars More Efficient

    Internal-combustion engines typically convert only one-third of the energy stored in gasoline or diesel fuel into usable power. The rest is wasted as heat, noise, or even goes unburnt. So the question for designers of range-extended electric vehicles becomes: How can onboard liquid fuel most...

  • Volvo C30 electric concept, 2010 Detroit Auto Show
    Could Your Car's Body Be Its Battery Too? Volvo Is Trying

    The biggest challenge for battery electric vehicles is clearly the cost and the weight of today's lithium-ion battery packs. Now Volvo is experimenting with a new composite material that can store and release energy more quickly than a convention lithium-ion cell and, it says, might one day replace...

  • Volvo C30 electric concept, 2010 Detroit Auto Show
    Volvo Announces C30 EV At EnerDel Facility In Indiana

    Another EV Enters the Scene With Some New Features

  • Volvo C30 Battery Electric Vehicle, shown at 2010 Detroit Auto Show
    Volvo C30 EV Utilizes Ethanol Powered Heater to Extend Range in Cold Weather

    Just days ago the Volvo C30 EV was presented at the EnerDel facility in Indiana.  Several reporters were on hand for the presentation as well as Volvo's director of special vehicles Lennart Stegland.  Stegland described many of the attributes of this new electric offering from the company...

  • City of Detroit, by jdurchen [Flickr]

    Next month's North American International Auto Show in Detroit promises to be greener than ever before. That's a recognition that more fuel-efficient and smaller cars are a permanent part of the U.S. automotive landscape, but it's also desperation to fill space in a show that's losing exhibitors. Padding out the new cars on display: Not only the return of last year's basement Eco Xperience ride-and-drive, but a main-floor area called "Electric Avenue" just for electric cars, of any variety. Our bet: You won't see a Tesla Roadster or a Chevrolet Volt anywhere near what will likely be a...

  • Volvo C30 Battery Electric Vehicle, shown at 2010 Detroit Auto Show
    Volvo C30 EV Coming To Detroit (Minus Fanfare)

    Electric vehicles are significantly quieter than their traditional gas-powered counterparts. Maybe it's fitting then, that Volvo doesn't plan to say anything when they unveil their electric C30 at the Detroit Auto Show next week. Volvo spokesman, Dan Johnston, told Inside Line that the new...

  • Volvo C30 Battery Electric Vehicle, shown at 2010 Detroit Auto Show
    Detroit Auto Show Preview: Volvo C30 Electric Car

    Volvo has now released more details of the all-electric C30 concept car it will launch at next week's 2010 Detroit Auto Show. We covered early details a couple of weeks ago; here's the rest of the story on the little electric hatchback with no tailpipe. The electric C30 concept car will let the...

  • Volvo C30 electric concept, 2010 Detroit Auto Show
    Detroit Auto Show Preview: Electric Volvo C30 Hatchback

    Advance news on the green concept cars to be shown at next month's Detroit Auto Show continues to trickle out. The latest: a further evolution of the all-electric Volvo C30 three-door hatchback concept. It's the second European electric concept car. It joins the BMW Concept ActiveE electric car...

  • Volvo C30 BEV
    Volvo Launches C30 BEV Prototype

    Volvo launched the C30 BEV at the Frankfurt Motor Show earlier this week.  The vehicle, a fully electric version of the company's hatchback model, is scheduled to undergo evaluation by the company to assess the possibility of bringing it to production within the next few years. Along with the...

  • volvo recharge concept 001
    Factmill: Volvo Is Building An All-Electric C30

    Lo and behold, the New York Times got it right. Four days ago, we highlighted a story in the Times about an all-electric Volvo C30 hatchback. Today, Autocar has confirmed that the Swedish automaker is indeed working on a drivable electric C30 for its Innovation for Life event, which will take place...

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