Volvo’s monitoring and concept centre in California calculates that an electric car similar to its Recharge concept could earn its owner about £1,000 a year by selling electricity back to electricity companies.
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And the average motorist would only have to buy about £350 worth of electricity each year to keep the car running so making a net profit.
The Recharge has an electric motor at each wheel and uses its engine – a 1.6 diesel running at a constant 1,500rpm to produce 30hp – only to recharge the on-board batteries which are lithium-polymer rather than lithium-ion. Running the engine at a constant speed allows emissions to be strictly controlled.
These batteries are much safer than lithium-ion, Ichiro Sugioka, Volvo’s California-based science officer, said. The technology became available in 2007.
It will be another 10 years before the Recharge becomes a production reality, he said. But it will happen – it will have to because by 2050 “there just won’t be enough energy to go round.”
Sugioka points to certain key facts. The Recharge, which can be quickly topped up at home by plugging into the mains, has a range of 60 miles on a single charge.
Doesn’t sound far but 75% of daily driving in the USA is less than 60 miles; this rises to 80% in Sweden and 90% in the UK.
“And don’t forget that for 90% of the time, a car sits idly in your driveway,” said Sugioka.
Wouldn’t it be great to use that idle time to power your own house, your neighbourhood and even earn you money?
The Recharge is the culmination of research started in the early 1990s; there is a driveable version in Sweden.
“The 10-year horizon is the right time frame for the business case to be made,” said Sugioka. “Even now, at this show, we plan to have meetings with US government officials to discuss this.”
