2007 SEMA: Volvo XC70 Surf Rescue Concept

Volvo’s XC70 Surf Rescue concept was conceived from the Volvo Cars design team and built by Aria, a concept car building firm located in Irvine, California. Inspired from lifeguard vehicles seen on California beaches, the XC70 Surf Rescue is equipped with a 3.2-liter engine producing 235 Hp and it rides atop a 5-inch-lift suspension, oversized tires and heavily modified body panels.

As its name suggests, the XC70 Surf Rescue is fitted with a full compliment of life-saving equipment and custom rescue surfboards. Take out the graphics and the surfer/rescue equipment and sign us in for one, this is how the stock XC70 should have looked like in the first place. -High-res image gallery & details after the jump

PRESS RELEASE: Quick Response Team Delivers New Concept for Beach Pros - Volvo XC70 Surf Rescue On Patrol at the 2007 SEMA Show

Las Vegas, NV (October 30, 2007) - Lifeguards on Southern California's famous beaches have been glamorized by Hollywood for decades. While they share the spirit of adventure and camaraderie, these dedicated men and women are highly trained professionals who take safety very seriously. Half a world away, a Volvo designer in Sweden who is captivated by lifeguard skill competitions accepted the challenge to design a show car for his heroes. The result, Volvo's XC70 Surf Rescue (SR) concept, pays homage to the brave individuals who protect and serve the ocean-going public.

At the Volvo Concept Center in Gothenburg, Sweden, Joel Alexandersson was charged with creating the conceptual design for a one-of-a-kind rescue vehicle that upholds Volvo's core value of safety in a bold and dynamic new way. The XC70 SR's interior concept was assigned to Volvo's styling center in Barcelona, Spain. Larry Abele, design manager at the Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center (VMCC) in Camarillo, California, coordinated the global teamwork and vehicle build.

As a testament to Volvo's advanced design capabilities, the XC70 SR concept was initially created in a virtual world. "The entire design process was performed digitally," says Abele. "This enabled us to review and modify the design in real time by projecting it onto large scale screens at each studio."

Volvo selected the Aria Group in Irvine, California, to build the concept. Starting with a production XC70, the Aria team completely stripped the vehicle of its paint, trim, bumpers and interior. Custom-designed parts were crafted for the concept without the traditional method of building clay models. Being able to go directly from digital designs to a process called rapid prototyping greatly reduces development time.

Guided by the surfing lifestyle and casual beach culture, the XC70 SR's paint scheme is developed specifically for the show car by DuPont. Colors are selected from DuPont's Global Advanced Design Show, which represents cutting edge trends in automotive color. The exterior yellow is a multi-layer effect coating incorporating a vibrant color with pearl like qualities. The secondary red uses a tinted clear to produce high chroma with warm undertones. These exotic finishes use DuPont's wet on wet coating technology for multi layer effects without the high cost of multiple baking steps.

Eye-catching Surf Rescue graphics are added for instant recognition on a crowded beach. The exterior also sports a custom-crafted front fascia that wears a one-off milled aluminum billet grille. Front and rear skid plates and wider wheel lip cladding provide extra body protection from flying sand. The new fascias also reduce front and rear overhang, thereby improving approach and departure angles.

The chassis is lifted an additional five inches from the stock ride height for improved ground clearance. It also makes way for a massive set of custom designed 20-inch wheels and Pirelli 275/45R20 tires (www.pirellityre.com) made specifically for the XC70 SR. The tread is designed for increased grip on loose and sandy soil with the flexibility to provide excellent traction both on and off the road. The rear subframe is beefed-up for added ruggedness with milled aluminum billet components.

True to form, the XC70 SR is topped by a unique aerodynamically designed roof-mounted emergency light bar integrated with a rescue board rack. Not only does this treatment contribute to the stunning good looks of the vehicle, it also helps to reduce wind drag by attaching directly to the XC70's OEM supplied roof rails.

When it's time to respond to a call, the driver or front passenger can activate a barrage of flashing blue strobe emergency lights. In addition to the roof, they're neatly inset into the lower front valance panel, headlight and rear combination light clusters as well as the inside rearview mirror.

Lifeguards get wet and sandy on the job so the interior is modified for heavy-duty use - without sacrificing style. The XC70's standard front bucket and folding rear seats are recovered in wetsuit style neoprene fabric that's custom tailored in black and gray with bright yellow inserts. Decorative interior panels throughout the cabin are yellow tinted with clear to segue with the spirit of the exterior hue.

Bulky emergency rescue gear housed in the cargo compartment can easily be accessed via the XC70's power rear tailgate. Secured to the neoprene covered floor are two scuba tanks, an oxygen tank, a small first aid kit, a resuscitator box and a large waterproof box containing additional medical supplies and surf rescue equipment.

The XC70's 3.2-liter in-line 6-cylinder normally aspirated engine produces 235 horsepower and 236 lb.-ft. of torque. It's mated to a six-speed "Geartronic" automatic transmission that enables the driver to shift manually when desired. All-wheel-drive with Instant Traction^TM is standard. Electronic Hill Descent Control (HDC) uses the vehicle's brakes and engine torque to crawl in bottom gear on steep downhill slopes.

Volvo ReCharge Concept: Pug-In Hybrid Version Of The C30

Based on the C30 hatch, Volvo’s ReCharge Concept is plug-in hybrid that combines four individual electric wheel motors with a four-cylinder 1.6-litre Flexifuel engine. The latter drives a generator to power the wheel motors when the battery is depleted. According to Volvo the car can be driven about 100 km (62 miles) on battery power alone before the four-cylinder Flexifuel engine is needed to kick in and recharge the battery.

For a 150 km (93 mile) drive starting with a full charge, the car will require less than 2.8 litres of fuel, giving the car an effective fuel economy of 1.9 l/100km (124 mpg). You might think that the ReCharge Concept would be slow in order to achieve these figures. Wrong; the ReCharge accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 9 sec. However, its top speed -160 km/h or 93 mph is apparently less impressive. Notably, the generator and the wheel motors were co-developed with British electromagnetic specialists PML Flightlink, known for their work with the electric MINI Cooper. -Press release and image gallery after the jump

Volvo ReCharge Concept Press Release

Plug-in hybrid with battery-only range of 100 km - and Flexifuel engine for backup power

Volvo Cars is introducing the Volvo ReCharge Concept, a plug-in hybrid with individual electric wheel motors and batteries that can be recharged via a regular electrical outlet for maximum environmental benefit.

Recharging allows the car to be driven about 100 kilometres on battery power alone before the car's four-cylinder Flexifuel engine is needed to power the car and recharge the battery.

Volvo ReCharge Concept makes its debut in a specially designed Volvo C30 at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

"A certain proportion of electrical vehicles will be necessary to meet the CO2 emission demands of the future. Since the Volvo ReCharge Concept combines an excellent battery range with a backup combustion engine, it is a very interesting concept," says Magnus Jonsson, Senior Vice President Research and Development at Volvo Cars.

The ReCharge Concept has been developed at the Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center (VMCC), the Volvo Car Corporation's think-tank in Camarillo, California.

"This is a ground-breaking innovation for sustainable transportation. A person driving less than 100 kilometres a day will rarely need to visit a filling station. In the USA, this may apply to almost 80 percent of drivers," says Magnus Jonsson.

Thanks to the excellent electrical range from a fuel consumption angle, the Volvo ReCharge Concept is exceptionally kind to the car owner's wallet.

When driving on electric power only, operating costs are expected to be about 80 percent lower than that of a comparable petrol-powered car. When driving beyond the 100 km battery range, fuel consumption may vary from 0 to 5.5 litres per 100 km depending on the distance driven using the engine.

"This plug-in hybrid car, when used as intended, should have about 66 percent lower emissions of carbon dioxide compared with the best hybrid cars available on the market today. Emissions may be even lower if most of the electricity in intended markets comes from CO2-friendly sources such as biogas, hydropower and nuclear power," says Magnus Jonsson.

An electric motor at each wheel

The Volvo ReCharge Concept combines a number of the latest technological innovations into a so-called "series hybrid" where there is no mechanical connection between the engine and the wheels.

• The battery pack integrated into the luggage compartment uses lithium-polymer battery technology. The batteries are intended to have a useful life beyond that of the car itself.
• Four electric motors, one at each wheel, provide independent traction power.
• Four-cylinder 1.6-litre Flexifuel engine drives an advanced generator that efficiently powers the wheel motors when the battery is depleted.

Electric car with a combustion engine as backup

In principle, the Volvo ReCharge Concept is a battery electric car with an efficient generator, an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), that steps in when battery charge becomes insufficient for adequate driving performance.

The APU is designed to distribute electrical power to the individual motors at each wheel. Since the combustion engine only powers the APU, it can operate in an optimal fashion, both for regulated emissions and CO2.

The APU is sufficiently powerful to supply an entire villa with electricity. For example it could with minor modifications in principle give the car owner an electricity generator right at his front door in the event of a power failure.

The driver can choose the power source

The combustion engine starts up automatically when 70 percent of the battery power has been used up. However, the driver also has the option of controlling the four-cylinder Flexifuel engine manually via a button in the instrument panel.

This allows the driver to start the engine earlier in order to maximize battery charge, for instance when out on the highway in order to save battery capacity for driving through the next town.

"There is a considerable difference between our plug-in hybrid and today's hybrids. Today's hybrids use the battery only for short periods to assist the combustion engine. Our solution is designed for most people to run on electric power all the time, while providing the extra security that comes with having a combustion engine as a secondary source of electrical power," says Ichiro Sugioka, project manager for the Volvo ReCharge Concept. He adds: "What is more, our C30 with plug-in hybrid technology retains its lively and sporty driving properties. Acceleration from 0-100 km/h takes 9 seconds and top speed is 160 km/h."

Specially developed electric motors

The central electrical components in the Volvo ReCharge Concept demonstrator - the generator for the APU and the wheel motors - were developed together with British electromagnetic specialists PML Flightlink.

With an individual electric motor at each wheel, weight distribution as well as mechanical efficiency and traction are maximized. The friction in mechanical gears is eliminated. Since the car does not have the transmission found in ordinary cars, there is no need for a gear lever.

To help maximize the environmental benefits, the Volvo ReCharge Concept has high-efficiency tyres developed by Michelin. They are specially designed to accommodate the wheelmotors.

Further more, the car has All Wheel Drive in the truest sense of the term. Power to each wheel is controlled individually.

The energy that is generated during braking is transmitted to the battery pack. When the system is ultimately developed, traditional wheel brakes will be completely replaced by electrical brakes with minimal energy wasted through friction.

To ensure reliable operation of the drivetrain and braking system, driver inputs are fed into a quadruple-redundant electronic control system.

Ecologically sound solution for commuters

The Volvo ReCharge Concept is best suited to car drivers who cover moderate distances every day. For example, a commuter who has less than 100 kilometres (62 miles) to drive between home and workplace can cover the entire round trip on electric power alone and the equivalent daily fuel economy will be zero litres per 100 km.

Even drivers who cover more than the battery-only range will benefit from the ReCharge Concept. For a 150 km (93 mile) drive starting with a full charge, the car will require less than 2.8 litres of fuel, giving the car an effective fuel economy of 1.9 l/100km (124 mpg).

"The only requirement is that the car owner has access to electrical outlets at convenient places, such as at home or at the workplace. A full recharge takes 3 hours. However, even a one-hour quick charge should provide enough charge to drive about 50 kilometres," says Magnus Jonsson.