In addition to its planned market introduction of a plug-in hybrid in 2012 Volvo Cars is currently evaluating the viability of a fully battery-electric vehicle (BEV). This year, Volvo has built and been internally testing a small number of prototype versions of a BEV version of its C30. In addition to focusing on performance and safety, much of the focus is on integration of the electric propulsion system with the rest of the car.
The Volvo C30 BEV is powered by a 24 kWh lithium-ion battery pack; for its plug-in hybrid, Volvo is eyeing a 12 kWh pack. Recharging the C30 BEV pack via a household supply (230V, 16A) will take about eight hours
The battery in the C30 BEV is designed and developed in the US by EnerDel, Inc., Ener1's US battery subsidiary. This follows the recently announced collaboration with Volvo on the plug-in hybrid V70 demonstration vehicles being road tested in Europe this fall, which also feature EnerDel lithium-ion batteries.
The EnerDel battery for the C30 battery electric vehicle (BEV) is custom-made and is a split battery pack, with an energy content of more than 24 kWh nominal energy, of which 22.7 kWh is used to power the car. It uses EnerDel's EV chemistry: hard carbon and mixed oxide.
Source: Green Car Congress