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…by adding a petrol engine.
Now, you'd think this would turn the car into a petrol-electric hybrid, but not so according to the Swedish car maker.
It prefers to think of the "supplemental" petrol engine as a range extender. When it comes to electric vehicles "range anxiety" has been identified as one of the chief consumer concerns.
It's the nagging fear that the car is going to run out of charge leaving the driver stranded by the side of the road.
At present the two electric cars on the market in Australia both have a range of less than 150km. Volvo says it has developed "range extenders" for its electric cars that add 1000km in extra range. It is able to achieve this by fitting an internal combustion engine to increase their effective range. Volvo describes the move as the next step in its electrification strategy.
"Battery cost and size mean that all-electric cars still have a relatively limited operating range," says says Derek Crabb, Vice President Powertrain Engineering.
"With the Range Extender, the electric car has its effective range increased by a thousand kilometres — yet with carbon dioxide emissions below or way below 50g/km."
Volvo has come up with three different combinations, all with three cylinder petrol engines to "complement" electric drive to the front wheels.
All three variants feature brake energy regeneration and will run on both petrol and an ethanol E85 combination. Two of the solutions are based on the Volvo C30 Electric.
In both cases, the standard battery pack has been reduced in size to make room for the combustion engine and its fuel tank.
