Volvo announced the Recharge Concept during the Paris Motor Show as the most groundbreaking Plug In Hybrid ever. Volvo, a name associated with a care for you and your family, and a concern party of environmental issues; Volvo is however, rarely associated with being Hi-Tech or having the funds to more ahead with such a program. And during the Paris Motor Show, the unveiling of the Recharge Concept was indeed an eye opener on how much effort Volvo had poured into the creation and realization of this concept.
First off, the thing that got this modified C30 being dubbed a 'ground breaking' effort, is the 66% lower emission (not with our usual cars) than the best Hybrids today, which by any means is a shocking claim given certain hybrids weren't even 50% better in emission levels compared to high efficiency diesels. Next up, is the mileage achievable with a 3 hour charge, the ReCharge Concept can travel 96km on a single charge, giving much further mileage than GM's recently reveiled Chevrolet Volt (64km). And when the available battery power reached 30%, the 4 cylinder engine will kick in to recharge the batteries.
Wouldn't such concepts violate the first laws of Thermodynamics? Combusting petroleum and generate heat and electricity, then store the electricity for use later on, it would certainly use up more energy than directly combusting the engine to turn the wheels wouldn't it?
Well yes and no, as the ReCharge Concept had no mechanical linkages in whatsoever way from the engine to the wheels, each wheel spots a small electric engine that draws its power from the main lithium ion polymer battery, which was created to last even longer than the car's lifetime (We presume lifetime under warranty), and these batteries does the job most of the time in a day's work. Moreover, the 1.6 ltr engine is a Flexifuel engine, capable of gurping up few types of fuel. To put into perspectives, should you have a 150km trip, you would've only need RM7.56's worth of petrol.
Lastly, the covered grill (improved aerodynamics) and weird looking wheels does suggest it being an environmentally friendly car - Don't take it as it looks thou, as this ReCharge Concept goes from 0-100km/h in only 9 seconds. Capable of taking down a BMW 318.
