AutoMK.com

Volvo has long tried to be good environmental stewards. Even before its revolutionary Lambda-Sond system in the late 1970s, the Gothenburg-based automaker had been making efforts to tread lightly. Now comes word that Volvo has developed a hybrid version of the C30 hatchback. The drive system is reportedly a series hybrid, with the batteries being charged on the go by a diesel powerplant. There's plug-in charging capabilities, as well. The batteries alone can provide motive power for about 45 miles before the generator awakes. The electrified C30 will be part of the Michelin Challenge Bibendum, where engineers will presumably be trying to break stuff so that any production version has well-vetted hardware. No details are available about whether the hybrid hardware was developed in-house by Volvo or bequeathed by parent Ford, which developed a similar series hybrid drivetrain with a hydrogen fuel-cell generator for the Airstream Concept that debuted at the Detroit Auto Show this year.

[Source: Autobild - in German]