Last year Volvo announced an aggressive long-term plan to drastically reduce emissions throughout their entire line of cars. Initially, Volvo released Flexifuel lower emissions vehicles, cars that can run on E85 or regular gasoline. E85 is 85% ethanol, requiring engines specially manufactured to withstand higher alcohol levels. The next step is hybrid vehicles similar to the Prius. The program culminates with the ReCharge plug-in hybrid. The ReCharge is based on the popular C30 platform with a battery-only range of 60 miles. The ReCharge utilizes the same motors as the Lightning GT with one electric motor per wheel. The battery is recharged on the go when it is down to a 30 percent charge by a powerful Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) designed to distribute power to the four wheels and the battery. The four motors work independently to improve traction and performance. The ReCharge has a respectable acceleration of 1-60 mph in under 9 seconds with a top speed of 160 mph. Volvo has not released a timetable for the concept to hit production, but it is unlikely that it will be before 2012.
