Green Drive: Volvo C30 EV Now In Production Stage

The Volvo C30 Electric has now left the product development stage.
Initial deliveries to leasing customers, mainly companies, authorities and governmental bodies, will take place immediately after the summer.
The Volvo C30 Electric will be manufactured and delivered to leasing customers throughout Europe, including Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway. Tests on a fleet of about 50 cars have been conducted since autumn 2010, mainly internally at Volvo Car Corporation. A Volvo C30 Electric is also part of the "One Tonne Life" project in which a family has been given the task of living as climate-smart as possible for a period of six months. About 250 cars will be built by the end 2012, possibly more if market interest takes off.

The Volvo C30 Electric is built on the regular assembly line in the Ghent factory and then transported to Göteborg for installation of the motor, batteries and other model-specific electronics. The batteries are installed where the fuel tank normally sits and also in a special compartment in the car's central tunnel. As a result, the luggage compartment is unchanged. The car is recharged from a regular household power socket. A full recharge takes about 7 hours. The operating range is up to 150 kilometres per full charge. Top speed is 130 km/h and acceleration from 0-50 km/h takes four seconds.

The Volvo C30 Electric project is part of the Volvo Car Corporation's highly ambitious electrification strategy for the forthcoming years. The electric car has attracted considerable international attention.

Credits: wilswong