Volvo Cars starts development of fuel cell/on-board reformer range extending system for EVs

Backed by research support from the Swedish Energy Agency, Volvo Cars isinitiatingdevelopment of a fuel cell system that can extend an electric car’s operating range . The aim is to have two prototype chassis based on the Volvo C30 DRIVe Electric ready for testing in everyday traffic in 2012.

Volvo Cars is working together with the companyPowerCell Sweden ABon this project. In the first phase, a preliminary study is being conducted into a fuel cell range extender, consisting of a fuel cell with an on-board reformer—i.e., a version of the PowerCell Power Pac. The reformer converts a liquid fuel, in this case gasoline, to hydrogen reformate, which then fuels the stack.

The technology generates electricity completely without any emissions of carbon oxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), sulphur oxides (SO_x) and particles. Due to system efficiency, emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) are significantly reduced compared with a conventional vehicle, according to Volvo. The technology also can be adapted for renewable fuels.

In the next phase, pending support from the Swedish Energy Agency, Volvo Cars and PowerCell will produce two test cars based on the current Volvo C30 DRIVe Electric. Testing of the cars will begin in 2012.

This is an exciting expansion of our focus on electrification. Battery cost and size means that all-electric cars still have a relatively limited operating range. Fuel cells may be one way of extending the distance these cars can cover before they need to be recharged. What is more, the project gives us increased knowledge about fuel cells and hydrogen gas.

—Volvo Cars President and CEO Stefan Jacoby

This technology is expected to increase the electric car’s operating range by up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) in addition to the range provided by the car’s battery pack. The fuel cell industry expects that the cost efficiency will improve continuously through refined technology and large-scale production.

We have just taken the first steps and it is naturally too early to talk about market introduction of electric cars with Range Extenders. The industrial decision will come after we have learned more about fuel cells and the opportunities they offer.

—Stefan Jacoby

A PowerCell APU. The Click to enlarge.

PowerCell AB.PowerCell Sweden AB was founded as a joint venture between AB Volvo and Statoil ASA with the objective of bringing fuel cell and fuel converter technology to full commercialization. In 2009, Volvo Technology Transfer invested in the company, along with Midroc New Technology, Ocas Ventures and Fouriertransform. (Earlier post.)

PowerCell plans to supply its Power Generator (reformer plus fuel cell stack) to two main market segments in the transport industry, the Marine leisure and the Truck segment, as an APU.

PowerCell Sweden’s technology is based on two patented components: the fuel converter (reformer) and the PEM fuel cell stack. The autothermal reformer was originally developed by OWI (Oel Waerme Institut) in Aachen, while the PEM fuel cell was developed at Volvo. Currently available with up to 7 kW output, the next generation of the fuel cell, currently under development, will output up to 30 kW.

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=> Volvo Cars starts development of fuel cell/on-board reformer range extending system for EVs.

Volvo Planning ts Driveline Architectures All To Be Plug-in Hybrid Capable; Considering a Range-Extended Electric-Drive Architecture in the Future

Volvo is planning all its future driveline architectures with the ability to accommodate a rear-axle electric motor and battery for enabling a plug-in hybrid option, according to Paul Gustavsson, Volvo’s Vice President Business Development and Electrification Strategy.

Volvo’s current plug-in architecture of choice is shown on its V70 diesel PHEV prototypes: combining a front-wheel drive engine (diesel initially) with an axle-integrated rear-wheel drive electric motor, powered, in the case of the V70 PHEV, by an 11.3 kWh Li-ion battery pack (8 kWh is usable) under the trunk floor. (Earlier post.)

The V70 diesel PHEV is projected to support up to a 50 km (31 mile) all-electric range—sufficient to cover the daily transport needs of 75% of European drivers. Carbon dioxide emissions will average out at 49 g/km, with fuel consumption of 1.9 liters per 100 km (124 mpg US), according to the NEDC certification driving cycle.

Green Car Congress spoke with Gustavsson on the phone following Volvo’s affirmation at the Paris Motor Show that it would introduce a series-produced plug-in hybrid diesel as early as 2012. (Earlier post.)

Volvo concept of a range-extended architecture. Click to enlarge.

Gustavsson said that in the medium- to long-term, Volvo would consider a series hybrid architecture—i.e., a purely electric drive vehicle with a small range-extending ICE.

The plug-in hybrid is a perfect bridge to an electric society. We think that [a range-extended electric vehicle] would be an alternative in the long term, if we have a bridge. Plug-in hybrids are expensive—they’re a combination of two expensive drive trains. But that’s a bridge to get used to electrification, to get away from range anxiety.

The next step would be [around] 2016, 2017, 2018. We will still have a range limitation with battery cars. But we would avoid that if we put in a small range extender, say a 1-cylinder, 15 hp (11 kW) engine, very small, or a fuel cell. We think it’s probably long term the most interesting.

But it is at such an early stage. What we do right now is try to listen. We have our hands full to deliver a plug-in hybrid and a battery car [the electric C30].

—Paul Gustavsson

Based on the NEDC cycle, CO₂ emissions from Volvo’s V70 plug-in diesel hybrid will average out at 49 grams per kilometer, with fuel consumption of 1.9 liters per 100 km (124 mpg US), according to Volvo. The diesel engine—optimized to run on renewable synthetic diesel and complying with future exhaust emission requirements—can be run separately or in combination with the electric motor for optimal power and energy utilization.

Volvo plans to launch its PHEVs in all markets, including the US, and is working to develop a gasoline-engined PHEV to that end. The company is also evaluating the introduction of diesel-engined PHEVs into the US market, although the cost to meet US emissions requirements is a challenge, Gustavsson said.

Another cost-related challenge facing PHEV and EV introduction, Gustavsson said, is government support, which is “absolutely critical” in the beginning.

A lot of countries are hesitating in the budget. It is a mixed picture. In some markets, they withdraw from earlier promises; some markets increase, like Sweden. It’s a mixed picture

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=> Volvo Planning ts Driveline Architectures All To Be Plug-in Hybrid Capable; Considering a Range-Extended Electric-Drive Architecture in the Future.

Volvo helps to develop a material for both battery and bodywork

Battery bodywork prototype material – Click above to watch video after the jump

How much will a plug-in vehicle’s battery weigh in 2020? How much will the same car’s bodywork weigh? If a new prototype material developed by researchers in the Imperial College London in the UK turns out to be as good as it sounds, the answer to both of these questions, whatever the value is, might one day be the same.

The reason for this is that the material is a new type of battery that could be strong and light enough to pull double duty as body components and can store and discharge electrical energy. It is being developed for use in cars, where it could bring about a weight reduction of about 15 percent, as well as for other things like cell phones and computers. There is a video of project coordinator Emile Greenhalgh, from the Department of Aeronautics at Imperial College London, describing the material after the jump.

Sure, any vehicle powered by this material is a long way away, but it’s always fun to imagine what’s possible some day in the future. Considering that the Volvo Car Corporation is partnering with the Imperial College on this project, we can imagine that the 2020 S80 DRIVe might be made out of this stuff, right? Thanks to Jon for the tip!

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=> Video: Volvo helping to develop new material that could be both battery and bodywork.

Volvo C30 electric vehicle uses … ethanol for heat

Volvo C30 DrivE electric vehicle – Click above for high-res image gallery

During a presentation on the Volvo electric C30 today at the EnerDel facility in Fishers, IN, we heard a word we really didn’t expect to hear: ethanol. We asked Lennart Stegland, Volvo’s director of special vehicles, to explain what the biofuel has to do with the all-electric commuter car, and here’s how it works: instead of using the battery to heat the batteries or the cabin, a small liquid-fuel heater is built into the car. See, it gets cold in Scandanavia, and using ethanol makes sure the driver does not have to accept any compromises to go electric, Stegland said, adding:

At zero degrees Centidrade or slightly colder, you lose about 35-40 percent of the range if you use electricty [to heat the battery and or the cabin]. What we decided is we can have the opportunity to have this fuel-operated heater, which has a capacity of about six kilowatts, so that will reduce the temperature [where the range loss starts] by about 20 degrees Centigrade. Then we use the battery only for mobility. All the heat is taken from the ethanol.

The system is a gasoline heater that was adapted to burn E85. The ethanol fuel tank is filled using the same fuel door as is used on a standard C30 to gas up and holds around 14 liters of fuel, enough to get you through about two weeks’ worth of very cold weather if you keep the car plugged in whenever possible.

If the C30 makes it to the U.S. (a possibility sometime after 2013), the liquid fuel for the heater might be standard gasoline, Stegland said, since the system will be adapted market by market. As far as we know, Volvo is the only company using this method. At first glance, it seems really, really strange. On second thought, though, it kind of makes sense. The third thought? Well, that one is yours.

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=> Volvo C30 electric vehicle uses … ethanol for heat.

Detroit 2010: Volvo C30 EV silently motors into the Motor City

Volvo C30 EV Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

As expected, Volvo brought along an all-electric C30 hatchback concept to the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. While this isn’t a production vehicle at this point, Volvo says the car is a fully drivable prototype with a complete interior, full instrumentation, and enhanced battery packaging.

We made our way down to Volvo’s area here at Cobo in Detroit to check the battery-electric C30 out for ourselves, and honestly we came away impressed. As Volvo says, the C30 EV is a complete package with little evidence that it’s not a production model. See for yourself in our high-res gallery of live images below.

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via Detroit 2010: Volvo C30 EV silently motors into the Motor City.