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Volvo C30 EV Coming To Detroit (Minus Fanfare)

 
1,896 views Jan 7, 2010

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

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

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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 zero-emissions vehicle will be on display, with requisite spokesperson nearby, but the company will not hold a press conference.

Johnston went on to say that the C30 isn't intended to compete with the Chevy Volt and that the market will decide what its rivals will be. (How does the Nissan Leaf sound?)

Volvo will initially release the C30 battery electric vehicle (BEV) in Europe, because according to Johnston, the current battery technology and range limitations are best suited to urban driving environments. The C30 BEV can go 93 miles on a full charge.

In a statement issued today, Director of Electrification Strategy, Paul Gustavsson, said "The consumer must feel that this type of car is attractive both to drive and own. In order to ensure this, we feel that electric cars will have to be as comfortable and safe and offer similar levels of performance as cars with other power sources. The learning from the C30 BEV project will help us to fulfill all these criteria and showcase Volvo's determination to drive developments in the field of electrification."

With a top speed of 81 mph and an 11 second 0 to 60 crawl, one can only hope that the C30 BEV project teaches Volvo a lot about improving EV performance.

Sources: Inside Line, Volvo





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Comments (4)

  1. By Roy Posted: 1/8/2010 5:12am PST

    The car looks good, a winner. And I am glad to see any highway capable BEV hit the market. But I am very surprised at the performance. Wasn't it Volvo that was demoing those Hi-Pa wheel motors with incredible power? What does this have? One of the most encouraging things about the electric drive is that you do not have to trade off performance for economy. In fact a bigger more powerful motor can capture more re-generative brake power and to this extent provide even more range than a smaller motor. There is not a lot of incremental expense to having a bigger more powerful motor.
    So what gives? It must be limited by the battery technology. Zebra battery? This type of battery is cheap but is limited in power output. If this is the compromise that Volvo has chosen, then the price should be more competitive with ICE equivalent.
     
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  2. By Ash Posted: 1/8/2010 10:13am PST

    The problem is that Volvo cars are semi-luxury designs which are heavier and less aerodynamic than most EV designs. The gas powered C30 weighs 3200 lbs, and by the time you add the batteries the C30 EV is probably close to 4000 lbs.
    The coeffefficient of drag is is also fairly ordinary - 0.31 vs 0.26 on a Prius, a 20% variance.
    Add all that up and you get very ordinary EV performance.
     
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  3. By Luke Posted: 1/11/2010 2:15pm PST

    "With a top speed of 81 mph and an 11 second 0 to 60 crawl"
    I'll take an 11-second 0-60 speed any time.
    My current vehicles are slower than that (12ish?), and if I keep the pedal down while merging in to Interstate traffic, I still meet the traffic going way to fast. Much better to look ahead, find a gap in the traffic, and modulate my speed to match. Both of the "low performance" cars I drive regularly do this easily, and I rarely get a chance to put the pedal down all the way. I wish I could use more power and be more of a performance fanboy, but I could probably get by with about 30% less power than either my Ranger or wife's Prius offers.
    Yes,yes, some people will say they want more from their driving experience than "getting by", and they should get the cars that they want. But I'm at a point in my life where boring reliable low-performance high-efficiency transportation-appliances with flexible seating and cargo space are the right tool for the job.
    So, yeah, an 11-second 0-60 time is actually a selling point for me -- it means I'm not carrying around a lot of useless engine that I'm not going to use! :-)
     
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  4. rob_s avatar Robert Scardino Posted: 1/12/2010 10:52am PST

    Luke - point taken. Certainly different people have different expectations for their cars. I don't believe that slow performance is inherently a bad thing (although it's not something I'd typically prefer in my own car). I agree with Volvo when they say "we feel that electric cars will have to offer similar levels of performance as cars with other power sources." Based on the published numbers though, I don't think Volvo has achieved this yet (and if they had, they'd be mass marketing it today). We're witnessing the evolution of personal mobility here. We likely won't know how this plays out until we look back on it 100 years from now.
     
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