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It all sounds great and Volvo's almost ready to sell you a plug-in electric hybrid wagon - but only if you live in Europe.
Volvo Cars president and CEO Stefan Jacoby last week in Geneva unveiled its plug-in hybrid car that is the first to use a diesel engine. It claims a tiny 1.9 litres/100km and emissions of 49 grams of CO2 per kilometre - a new Commodore drinks at 9.3 l/100km and has 221g/km CO2 - and starts production next year.
Volvo Australia says it's on their wish list but there's no decision yet. Jacoby says the V60 Plug-in Hybrid is a 'no-compromise car'.
"This car already points very clearly to what our customers can expect when the plug-in hybrid enters showrooms next year," he says of the car on the Geneva stand. "It is not a contradiction in performance or its effect on the environment."
Volvo ups the ante by launching the car in association with Swedish energy producer Vattenfall, the company that owns the world's biggest wind turbine farm. This energy company - which plans to halve its own emissions by 2030 and be climate-neutral by 2050 - will offer Scandanavian buyers of the plug-in hybrid a contract including electricity from renewable sources. The plug-in hybrid will have a range of 50km on pure electricity and takes a 4.5 hour charge.
"It has zero environment impact," Jacoby says. "Zero emissions and zero impact."
The car is Volvo's second generation model and combines a D5 turbo-diesel engine for the front wheels and an electric motor powering the rear wheels.
"It is the best of three car types," Jacoby says. "In 'pure' mode it runs on the electric motor and has a 50km range. In 'hybrid' model it combines diesel and electric power and together, can get fuel consumption down to 1.9 litres/100km and CO2 emissions to 49g/km and a range of up to 1200km. Then in 'power' mode the combination realises 150kW (plus 50kW from the electric motor) and 440Nm (plus 200Nm) for a 0-100km/h time of only 6.9 seconds."
Aside from its unusual powertrain, the V60 Plug-in Hybrid will allow the driver to preheat or cool the passenger compartment during the recharging process. This also means that more battery capacity can be used for powering the car. The pre-conditioning is programmed by a timer in the car's computer or remotely via a mobile phone.
The V60 Plug-in Hybrid is being developed alongside the Volvo C30 Electric, which runs entirely on electricity.
"These two car types complement one another," says Jacoby. "With a plug-in hybrid the driver is entirely independent of recharging stations when driving long distances. The future electric-car market will feature a mixture of both all-electric cars and plug-in hybrids."
Over the next five years, Volvo will invest $11 billion in global products. Mr Jacoby says a key development is the China strategy involving a new production plan of 100,000 cars a year by 2013. The aim by 2015 is 200,000 cars made in China.
WHAT IS PLUG-IN HYBRID?
A plug-in electric vehicle has an onboard battery that is charged by plugging it in - usually overnight - into a power source such as your home's power outlet. Cars include the latest Mitsubishi i-MiEV and forthcoming cars such as the Tesla Roadster and Nissan Leaf.
A plug-in hybrid works the same way, but has a second power plant. In Volvo's case, a diesel engine and these two - electric and diesel - make it a hybrid. The Volvo runs on electricity or diesel or a combination of both meaning the driver can decide which power source is suitable for traffic conditions.
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