Holy smokes (pun intended). The dream is becoming a reality
When Volvo announced plans earlier this week to produce a plug-in diesel hybrid, green car fans understandably got excited. Consider the possibilities of a safe, stylish and highly functional Volvo V70;but one with plug-in capacity, the ability to go 30 or so miles on electricity alone, and the rest of the power coming from an efficient diesel engine. Media reports said this would be “a reality” by 2012.
Three years to a hybrid-diesel wagon is awesome, but not soon enough. The story mentions that Volvo had a concept car in 1992, so this is really a project that has taken twenty years to come to fruition.
Marketing seems to be the main obstacle, not technology.
The company admits that a diesel vehicle with a lithium ion battery will be expensive — and that’s the main point of the company’s announcement this week. Working with Vattenfall, Volvo hopes to gain a better understanding of the driving and charging habits of plug-in drivers. In this way, it can refine the design of its plug-in hybrid and determine if the lithium ion battery — the most expensive component in a plug-in hybrid or electric car — can be made smaller. If so, then the vehicle can be made more efficient, cheaper and especially safer. After all, it’s a Volvo.
The current Volvo V70 plug-in hybrid demonstration car uses a 11.3 kWh battery pack, that at current prices could cost $10,000 or more. Volvo expects those prices to come down, especially if the battery is downsized to meet, but not exceed, consumer needs. The battery pack is combined with a front-wheel drive diesel engine with a rear-wheel drive electric motor. The high cost of combining hybrid and diesel technology so far has prevented auto companies from introducing diesel-powered hybrids — with or without a plug.
Bah, costs come down, as the article suggests not to mention most buyers are not motivated by money alone. I mean people still are paying premium prices for BMW and Cadillac dinos that have a horrible schedule for depreciation, especially today. I just heard that a BMW was found buried in Texas in an attempt at insurance fraud, cars in Miami are showing up in the river, and in Nevada there has been a rash of SUV fires.
Anyway, setting price and irrational consumerism aside, I wonder if the front-diesel rear-electric could be driven as an AWD variant? Awesomeness. I also wonder if GM will be able to pull its sixteen cylinder head out of its tailpipe (what were they thinking?!) and finally get with the clean diesel program. They have made some hints so I guess it isn’t too crazy to hope for a Cadillac diesel-hybrid sport-utility wagon.