The Volvo C30 is a small family coupe produced by Volvo Cars. The C30 is a three-door, four-seat hatchback powered by straight-4 and straight-5 engines. The car is a hatchback version of the S40/V50/C70 range, and uses the same Ford C1 (or Volvo P1) platform.
It is being marketed as a premium hatchback or a sports coupe specially designed for first-time Volvo buyers and the youth market. Production is expected to be 65,000 units a year, 75% for sale in the European market. The production car was officially unveiled at the 2006 Paris Motor Show.
The exterior design of the C30 is based on the 2001 SCC concept car, which was inspired by the 1800ES, the estate adaptation of the P1800 Coupe. It also shares many design cues with the Volvo 480, particularly the 'sportback' body style and glass tailgate.
According to Simon Lamarre, chief studio designer, "the 1800ES has become one of the icons for Volvo,"inspiring the design of the Volvo C30.The interior design is similar to the S40 and V50; the majority of parts including the instrument panel, 'floating' centre stack and steering wheel are shared by the three cars.
Another concept car that was not unveiled at SEMA is the C30 PCP ("Performance Concept Prototype"). It was revealed in 2010 and was developed by Swedish company Polestar. It had all wheel drive, a body kit similar to the one found on the STCC cars and it borrowed the T5′s turbocharged 2.5 engine, albeit pushed to 405hp. It was finished in a striking shade of blue. While the car was only a concept, as of July of 2011 Volvo is considering producing a limited run of them.
The ReCharge concept is a plug-in hybrid electric version of C30, developed by Volvo's California development center. It was unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.It features a 4-cylinder 1.6L flex-fuel engine and an electric motor on each wheel. It has an estimated battery range of 100 kilometres (62 mi). The batteries have 3 hours of full recharge time. The car has a top speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). Volvo plans to sell a production plug-in hybrid C30 in Europe in 2012.
The Volvo C30 Electric is equipped with three climate systems: one supplies the passengers with heating or cooling; one cools or warms the battery pack as necessary; and the electric motor and power electronics are water-cooled. The climate control in the passenger cabin features a bioethanol-powered heater, a solution chosen by Volvo to get heating without compromising the battery driving range, but the driver has the option to run the climate unit on electricity from the batteries. Ethanol is the default mode and the ethanol tank can carry 14.5 litres (3.8 US gal) of bio-ethanol. Volvo has Tested the C30 in winter conditions in temperatures as low as -20 °C (-4 °F).[22
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
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