A fleet of 10 plug-in hybrid vehicles will be built by Volvo and Saab in a joint venture to test the viability of such vehicles in Sweden.

"Within the next decade, electric vehicles are going to be needed if we are to meet forthcoming CO2 legislation," says President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation, Frederik Arp.

"We want to be involved in setting up the rules for the future and to help build up broad-based competence in Sweden in this vital area," says Arp.

To this end, Volvo and fellow Swedish car builder, Saab, have joined forces with the ElectroTechnological Centre, the Swedish government and electric provider, Vattenfall, to run this project over a five-year period. Volvo expects to sink development costs worth the equivalent of AUD $2 billion into the project.

Plug-in hybrids are electric-powered vehicles that can be recharged from a mains power socket for short trips and typically incorporate an internal combustion engine to extend the vehicle's range.

Fitted with a small capacity turbodiesel to recharge the storage batteries on the move, the plug-in hybrid could conceivably achieve the sort of range expected from today's cars, powered by internal combustion engines.

Arp described the project as "a unique opportunity to take the lead when it comes to innovations for advanced green-car technology".

Volvo expects that plug-in hybrids could cut CO2 emissions by 65 per cent and that figure improves further in 'well to wheel' analysis if the mains electric power is sourced from hydroelectric power or wind-generated power.

The Ford-owned company has already commenced work on testing the water for plug-in hybrids with its C30-based ReCharge concept (more here).

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