The powertrain for the
All Wheel Drive Volvo XC60 Concept, due to make its world debut at
the Detroit show in January, is a six-cylinder, 3.2-litre
bio-ethanol engine.
The engine offers
dynamic performance with 265bhp and 340 Nm of torque – with 80 per
cent lower carbon dioxide emissions compared with the same engine
running on petrol.
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“We believe that the
FlexiFuel also has great potential for larger engine sizes and we
are planning to expand our range of bio-ethanol-powered engines in
the coming years,” says Magnus Jonsson, Senior Vice President,
Research & Development at Volvo Cars. |
The powertrain for the
Volvo XC60 Concept uses the same six-cylinder, 3.2-litre, in-line
petrol engine that was introduced in the all-new Volvo S80 and
revised XC90 in mid-2006. The engine has been optimised for E85 (85
percent bio-ethanol, 15 percent petrol). This gives acceleration
from 0–60 mph in 8.2 seconds and a top speed of approximately 143
mph. Fuel economy when running on E85 reduces to 19.2 mpg, as the
energy content of ethanol is 40% lower than that of petrol.
Environmental benefits
Bio-ethanol is an
entirely renewable fuel that can be produced from just about any
biomass source, such as corn, wheat, sugar-cane or cellulose. On top
of these environmental benefits, in many markets the car owner is
compensated at the fuel pump through the lower price of bio-ethanol.
Bio-ethanol – the
future?
The demand for
renewable bio-ethanol is growing steadily in Europe. There are
already 23 plants producing ethanol in Europe which is expected to
rise to just over 60 by 2008.
Volvo Cars has already
launched a four-cylinder bio-ethanol-powered FlexiFuel engine in
three of its nine models – the C30 SportsCoupe, S40 saloon and V50
Sportswagon – which are available in several European countries –
Sweden, France, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Belgium,
Austria and Switzerland – and plans to introduce them to more
countries in 2007, including, probably, the UK. Volvo predicts sales
of 7,000 FlexiFuel cars worldwide in 2007.
