Volvo Reveals Progress with C30 Electric in New Videos

By Brad Berman · November 07, 2011

Most of the electric car fanfare this year has gone to a few companies, most notably Nissan, Chevy, Ford and Tesla. That’s because these companies have vehicles on sale today, or coming very soon. Meanwhile, many others are working on pilot projects that will produce real-world EVs in the next year or two. As if to remind us that it’s continuing its EV efforts, Volvo has just released a suite of 10 short documentary-style videos about the upcoming Volvo C30 Electric.

Here’s my pick of the three videos that offer the most helpful information—to better understand how Volvo is adapting an existing platform to carry an electric drive system; the design of its climate control system (including ethanol-powered cabin heating); and the company’s work on new software systems to integrate all of the C30 Electric’s functions. Please share your reviews of the videos in this Volvo C30 Electric mini film festival.

About the author

· Brad Berman

Bradley Berman is the editor of PluginCars.com. Brad writes about alternative energy cars for The New York Times, Detroit Free Press, Reuters and other publications. He is quoted in national media outlets, such as CBS News, ABC News, CNBC, CBC, and MarketWatch. Mr. Berman is a tireless researcher of the green car market. He is the transportation editor at Home Power magazine.

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Comments

· darelldd · 28 weeks ago

My favorite part of having Volvo in the hunt is that there's no question we'll have cold weather operation solved in short order. This, of course, is one of the big complaints of those poor souls who live where cold means more than putting on a sweater for three months. Carrying a small, efficient liquid-fuel heater for the cabin sure seems like a good plan! Great to see Volvo taking this seriously. Now... if they'd just give us some cars!

· Montreal EV fan (not verified) · 28 weeks ago

Heat pumps are also a good idea for heating the interior of electric vehicles since they deliver more heat energy than the energy they consume, and can reverse to give A/C. I believe the EV-1 had a heat pump. Can anyone verify?

· Jukka Kukkonen · 28 weeks ago

These videos are great and being one of those poor souls from cold weather climate I really appreciate Volvo's efforts in developing practical solutions for winter conditions. I like the idea of battery heating done with circulating air through the pack. This should be pretty simple, reliable and light weight solution.

· Jukka Kukkonen · 28 weeks ago

@Montreal EV fan
Heat pumps work really well in moderate temperatures, but they face challenges when temperatures get really cold ( below 0 F.) At colder temperatures they start to consume more energy than they provide as heat to the area they are supposed heat. In colder temperatures the moisture in air can also condense to the outside unit and freeze the outside heat exchanger. So for really cold weather (when you need the heat most) you would need a second system, like resistive heater or fuel based heater like Volvo is using.

· darelldd · 28 weeks ago

@ Montreal EV fan -

Yes the EV1 had a heat pump. So did most of the other EVs from the 90's, including our current Rav4EV. Most modern EVs coming out will also be equipped with heat pumps. Except for the extremes, this really is the most energy efficient way to handle the HVAC. But as Jukka point out, there are limits to these systems at the extremes. For CA... heat pumps are the bomb. For Montreal... maybe not so much.

· Montreal EV fan (not verified) · 28 weeks ago

@darelldd:

Thanks for the update re the EV-1 and other EVs with heat pumps.

Our house has a heat pump that operates down to minus 12 C, below which it swiches off and the oil furnace cuts in. Regardless of Montreal's cold winters, this system works very well since there are also many mild days (above minus 12 C).

Perhaps a similar (heat pump/fossil fuel) heating system would make sense for EVs in very cold climates. Then, in the future when battery capacity improves, the fossil fuel heat backup could be replaced with electrical resistance heat backup.

· darelldd · 28 weeks ago

Wow. That's a pretty nice system that makes a lot of sense. My guess is that if your house were battery powered, that the oil furnace cut-in temp would be a bit higher. With grid power, you can suffer a bit of inefficiency more easily than can an EV.

I am currently looking into heat pumps for my home as well...

· alt-e · 28 weeks ago

One of the things these videos should remind us of is that there is so much that goes into developing any sophisticated product.

· iletric (not verified) · 28 weeks ago

When is it coming out? How big is the battery? How much is it going to cost? Can't wait.

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Volvo C30 Electric

Volvo Reveals Progress with C30 Electric in New Videos

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