Gas at $5 per Gallon? Bring on the Hybrid!
Geez, now that we’ve pretty much blown by the $4 per gallon mark (I filled up this morning for $4.10/gallon), looks like the next milestone is $5 per gallon. While it might seem insane to our country of SUV-lovin’, exercise/walking adverse cheap gas addicts, our petrol is still relatively affordable compared to what Europeans have been used to for decades. I remember spending about $80 to fill up a little go-cart-of-a-car when I lived in Europe almost 15 years ago (makes me sound OLD, doesn’t it?). I’m still not to $80 to fill up a much larger vehicle, and gas tank, here yet. But, I see it coming…
Right on cue, after my $4.10 per gallon experience this morning, I saw an article in MSN Autos for Volvo’s latest concept plug-in hybrid based on its C30 model. As with all things still in concept, this little gem has been given the somewhat cool name of ReCharge. Though, knowing Volvo, the actual production name will be something entirely more bland like R30.
Some interesting highlights for the ReCharge include:
- No central motor! Rather, each wheel is driven by its own electric motor.
- The flex-fuel engine that it does have is used to charge the battery, not provide power directly to the wheels.
- Volvo estimates that the ReCharge will emit up to 66% less CO2 than today’s best hybrids.
- There are a bunch of other interesting technical points brought up in Jacob Gordon’s MSN article - why wheel engines are safer, battery technology used, plus the efficiency, speed and distance specs. I don’t need to confuse things with my interpretation, so please click HERE to access the original article.
Having said all that - I have just 2 requests for the engineers at Volvo:
- Please bring the ReCharge to production sooner than the 10 years currently projected.
- Please do a station wagon version. I am, after all, still an American that needs my SPACE!
