Volvo will at the Frankfurt motor show unveil a concept car with a new downsized engine, heralding a switch to an engine range consisting solely of four-cylinder petrol and diesel units.
The automaker, now owned by China’s Geely, previously shared some engines with former owner Ford.
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“It’s time to stop counting cylinders,” said R&D chief Peter Mertens, adding that the concept car “proves that downsized engines can go hand in hand with our customers’ expectations on luxury and driving pleasure.”
Volvo’s upcoming four-cylinder VEA (Volvo Environmental Architecture) engine range includes common rail diesels and direct injected petrol engines. It covers the whole range from high power and torque variants to fuel-efficient derivatives.
“Our four-cylinder focus is the perfect way for us to quickly reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. We will develop four-cylinder engines with higher performance than today’s six-cylinder units and lower fuel consumption than the current four-cylinder generation,” said Mertens.
The new VEA engines reduce the number of unique parts by 60%. The new powertrains are also up to 90kg lighter than the present ones and fuel economy is improved by up to 35%.
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By GlobalDataThe company will also add hybrid and flywheel drive technology. It will start public testing of a kinetic energy recovery system later this autumn using a system that captures braking energy in a flywheel spinning at up to 60,000 revs a minute. Once released, this stored energy can either accelerate the car or propel the vehicle once it reaches cruising speed.
“The flywheel system offers the driver an additional 80hp while reducing fuel consumption by up to 20%,” said Mertens.
The company is also introducing a new vehicle architecture: SPA (Scalable Platform Architecture). SPA allows most models to be built on the same production line irrespective of vehicle size and complexity.
“We’re taking our technological future into our own hands. Both our new architecture and the new engine range will enable us to be on par or even beat our toughest competitors in crucial areas such as driving dynamics and fuel economy,” said Mertens.
Upcoming SPA models will also be 100-150 kg lighter than current models of the same size.
The new architecture enables electrification at all levels – and new chassis technologies combined with the lower weight and improved weight distribution will boost driving dynamics. The electrical architecture is the backbone of the company’s drive to reinforce its leading position in active safety.
