Volvo C30 gets stop-start

Volvo is about to hit the eco button with its first stop-start fuel savers as it also reveals plans for full-scale production of a plug-in hybrid with a diesel engine. Its longer term goal is to become a world leader in environmentally-friendly cars with a drive to zero emissions culminating in plug-in electric power.

The C30 DRIVe model will lead Volvo's push on a zero-emission strategy and the first cars will be in showrooms in September. They have a stop- start system similar to the one already seen in the Smart ForTwo and the upcoming Land Rover Freelander II.

There will eventually be a full range of DRIVe models as Volvo has produced seven for Europe, from the C30 to XC70, with CO2 emissions as low as 104grams/km.

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The drive DRIVe model is a C30 with a 1.6-litre turbodiesel engine that promises, with help from stop-start, fuel economy of 3.9L/100km and best-in-class CO2 emissions of 104g/km. The car also has low- rolling-resistance tyres with lowered suspension and a gearshift indicator.

"At this stage, we can't confirm specification or pricing but should be in a better position to announce details around August," says Laurissa Mirabelli of Volvo Cars Australia.

But the big breakthrough comes in 2012 with a plug-in hybrid, previewed this week in Sweden inside the body of a V70 station wagon. The plug-in Volvo is being developed in partnership with a Swedish energy company, Vattenfall. It uses a lithium-ion battery pack.

"We're investing more than $1 billion on the joint venture, to investigate plug-in hybrids. They will be a reality from 2012," says Mirabelli.

"Ideally, we'll also have them here within 12 months of production.

The aim is economy of 1.9L/100km."

Hitting those targets means using a diesel engine in the hybrid drivetrain, a move which has not been made yet by any maker. Most European brands are promising some form of diesel hybrid but, so far, the mass-market Toyota Prius and Honda Insight use petrol power.

"The plug-in system takes five hours to charge and the electric range is 50 kilometre. That's on the demonstration car which is a V70," says Mirabelli.