Volvo's DRIVe Towards Zero

This punchline was chosen by Swedish manufacturer Volvo to represent its alternative vehicle development program. As the name says, the goal of DRIVe Towards Zero is to create a fleet of vehicles which will have zero harmful emissions.

The program is already underway, with Volvo unveiling no less than seven high-efficiency diesel vehicles. The next logical step, an intermediary one between efficient diesels and EVs, is the launch of Volvo's plug-in hybrid fleet, scheduled for early 2012.

"We already have a wide range of models with extremely competitive CO2 emissions. It is our aim that by 2020, the average emissions from our

models will be 90-100g CO2 per kilometer and that we should lead the market in the environmental field. Electrification is an important part of the paradigm shift to significantly reduce CO2 emissions," Paul Gustavsson, Volvo director of electrification strategy said.

Aside for the already launched efficient models (C301.8F, C301.6D DRIVe and C30 1.6D DRIVe with start/stop, S40 1.8F, S40 1.6D DRIVe and S40 1.6D DRIVe with start/stop, V50 1.8F, V50 1.6 D DRIVe and V50 1.6D DRIVe with start/stop, V70 2.0F, V70 2.5FT, S80 2.0F, S80 2.5FT and V70 2.5 FT Bi-Fuel), the Swedish manufacturer plans an entire array of new vehicles for the upcoming years: the plug-in hybrids.

Volvo will take the recently introduced electric C30 and put it through hell to see what works and what doesn't. After the tests have been completed, Volvo will decide whether is worth while sending the electric C30 to dealerships or not.

Even more, "at present, 85 percent of the materials used in Volvo's cars can be recycled and 95 percent can be recovered," Vovlvo added.