U SPY: 2014 Volvo V30 Scooped on Film as Well

Carscoop commentator Paul tipped us off about a short video he took of a 2014 Volvo V30 prototype that he discovered at a McDonalds parking lot in the Dutch city of Oldenzaal. And yes, it's the same test car we showed you on Wednesday in our scoop pictures.

As a refresher for those of you that missed our previous story, the V30 is the five-door version of the next generation C30. It is expected to launch within the next two years providing the Swedish firm with direct rival to the Audi A3 Sportback and its kind in the premium hatchback category.

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SPIED: New Volvo V30 5-Door Hatchback Spotted Hanging Around a Parking Lot

Our spies caught up with a five-door prototype version of the next generation C30 in one of the least expected places: a McDonald's parking lot in Amsterdam, Holland. It seems that the Volvo engineers were taking a break, leaving our photographers a small window to take a few shots.

The five-door version of the C30 hatchback will likely carry the V30 nameplate and will go against the likes of the Audi A3 Sportback and the new BMW 1-Series.

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Volvo and Siemens Form Partnership for Electric Vehicle Development

Volvo Car Corporation and Siemens, Europe's largest engineering company, will join forces for the development of electric vehicles through an extensive strategic cooperation.

The partnership between the two companies will focus on electric drive technology, power electronics, charging technology and the integration of all those systems in Volvo’s existing C30 Electric project.

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Volvo to Extend Driving Range of its EVs by Going the Way of the Chevy Volt

Electric Vehicles, or EVs, are the future. Or so the automakers say. And they would be correct, if it wasn’t for a significant disadvantage over petrol or diesel powered models: their abysmal range which makes them suitable only for limited city use.

Volvo is taking measures to solve this problem and make its EVs attractive to the public by adding an extra 1,000 km (621 miles) to their range. The solution, which has also been adopted by other models such as the Chevrolet Volt and the Audi A1 E-Tron concept, is the addition of a “range extender” internal combustion engine.

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Volvo’s Pure Electric C30 Enters Production

Volvo is starting production of the all electric version of its compact-size hatchback which, unsurprisingly, is named the C30 Electric. After testing about 50 cars since autumn 2010, mainly internally, the Swedish automaker plans to build about 250 cars by the end of 2012 (or more if there is enough interest), which will be leased in a number of European countries, including Sweden, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands. Read more »

Volvo C30 Electric Undergoes Harsh Winter Testing in the Extreme North

One of the major fears consumers have regarding electric vehicles, besides range anxiety, is how these cars are going to function in rough weather conditions. We all know batteries are sensitive to extreme temperatures, which can affect their capacity of storing electricity.

This is why Volvo is trying out its C30 Electric model in the north of Sweden, inside the Arctic Circle. Temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius are something normal in this part of the world, so Volvo engineers want to ensure the battery-powered car runs smoothly even in harsh environments.

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WTCC Debut in Brazil for Polestar Racing’s Volvo C30 DRIVe

The Polestar Racing prepared Volvo C30 DRIVe will make its premiere at the FIA World Touring Car Championship [WTCC] in the opening round of the 2011 season at Curitiba in Brazil this weekend. Polestar’s factory-backed C30 has already competed in the Swedish and Scandinavian Touring Car Championships, but being that the WTCC is a different beast altogether, the company said that it will not race to win this year, but to further develop the car for the 2012 season.

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Volvo Reduces Price of Entry-Level C30 to £15k in the UK

There’s less to pay for UK buyers looking to get into a Volvo C30 sport hatch as the Swedish automaker announced a significant £1,300 price cut to the entry-level model which now starts from £14,995 on the road. The C30 ES features a 2.0-liter petrol engine with 145HP and comes equipped with electronic climate control, 16-inch alloys, leather steering wheel and gearlever, a stability system (DSTC), power windows, information centre, and a CD player with auxiliary input.

In the UK, the C30 is available with a variety of petrol and diesel engines ranging from the 145HP 2.0-liter petrol to the 230HP T5 and 115HP D2 to the 177HP D4, as well as a choice of trim levels including the sporty R-Design.

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Volvo wants in on the EV Business, Starts Developing C30 DRIVe Electric with Fuel-Cell Range Extender

With even the likes of Porsche going green – not to mention the Chevrolet Volt or the Nissan Leaf, it's no surprise that Volvo wants a piece of the "Look at me, I'm saving the planet!" action.

They partnered up with Powercell Sweden AB (with backing from the Swedish Energy Agency) and hope that the Volvo C30 DRIVe Electric will be ready for testing on the road by 2012.

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Volvo Shows C30 Polestar Performance Concept with 405HP

This is the first official photograph of the Volvo C30 Polestar Performance concept that was revealed today at the Gothenburg Motor Show (22-25 April, 2010). The hot hatch was developed in cooperation with Volvo's racing partner, Polestar Performance, as a road car version of their C30 racer.

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Volvo Unleashes New C30 STCC Racer [with Video]

Volvo and its motorsports partner Polestar will begin this year's Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) season on 24 April at Jyllandsringen in Denmark with an updated version of their ethanol-powered C30 racer based on the facelifted production model.

The new race car gets a revised front end which is longer, lower and wider, with the Swedish automaker claiming that the new design delivers a higher ground pressure at the front, and an improved airflow right around the vehicle.

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Volvo's Racing Partner Teases C30 Concept with AWD and 400HP

Volvo has teamed up with its racing partner 'Polestar Performance', which handles the firm's championship-winning Swedish Touring Car Team, to develop the C30 Performance Concept Prototype.

The idea behind the project is to create the ultimate C30 without being halted by specific race regulations. The concept includes a 400-horsepower engine, all-wheel-drive, and aerodynamics based on Polestar's race car data.

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Pure-Electric Volvo C30 to Debut at Detroit Show, Trial Runs Start in 2011

Volvo is the second automaker after BMW and its Concept ActiveE to announce the debut of a pure-electric model based on a production car at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show next January. And like BMW, Volvo plans to build a test fleet of at least 50 plug-in C30s, which will be used in real-life traffic from 2011.

The Swedes first showed us an electric C30 prototype in September 2009. Aside from being based on the facelift C30, the Detroit Show model has been further refined and now features both a complete interior and full instrumentation, as well as enhanced battery packaging.

"The first prototype helped us identify the main technological challenges, such as battery packaging and safety issues." said Lennart Stegland, Director of Volvo Cars Special Vehicles.

"We have addressed these challenges without compromising the C30's cool and fun-to-drive personality. I am very happy with the result. The electric C30 in Detroit is a much more complete product," Stegland concluded.

The latest plug-in C30 uses an electric motor fitted under the bonnet while the Lithium-Ion batteries (24 kWh) are installed in the propshaft tunnel and in the space normally occupied by the fuel tank, outside the passenger compartment and away from the deformations zones for safety reasons.

The Lithium-Ion batteries that can be recharged via either a regular household power socket or special roadside charging stations. The Swedes said that a full recharge takes about eight hours

The three-door hatchback has a top speed of about 130 km/h or 81 mph, while Volvo said that it can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (96km/h) in less than 11 seconds. The car's driving range is up to 150 km or 94 mile, which Volvo claims covers the daily transport needs of more than 90 percent of all motorists in Europe.

Aside from the special graphics, colors and wheels, the electric C30 looks no different on the outside than a regular C30 while inside, the most obvious changes concern the new trim, revised instrument panel and the new gear selector.

Volvo Reveals UK Pricing on DRIVe Models

Even though the official presentation of the new economical sub-120g/km diesel variants of the C30 hatch, S40 Sedan and V50 SportWagon called “DRIVe” is scheduled for the Paris motorshow at the end of the week, Volvo UK today announced preliminary prices for all three models. The new DRIVe range will start at £15,410 OTR for the C30 and £17,260 and £18,660 for the S40 and V50 respectively. Production of the new DRIVe models that are equipped with a special set of efficiency-enhancing features will start in mid-November with first UK customer deliveries in January 2. -Continued

DRIVe range	OTR Prices
C30 DRIVe
1.6D S	£15,410
1.6D SE	£16,910
1.6D SE Lux	£18,410
S40 DRIVe
1.6D S	£17,260
1.6D SE	£18,760
1.6D SE Lux	£20,260
V50 DRIVe
1.6D S	£18,660
1.6D SE	£20,160
1.6D SE Lux	£21,660

2009 Volvo C30, S40 and S50 DRIVe: New Eco-friendly Line-Up

Volvo will be unveiling a trio of eco-friendly models based on the C30, S40 Sedan and V50 Station-Wagon at the Paris Motor Show in early October. Carrying the DRIVe insignia, all three models are powered by a 1.6-liter turbo diesel engine and equipped with a set of efficiency-enhancing features including reduced chassis height, aerodynamically optimized wheels, underbody panels (C30), new rear bumper (C30), low rolling resistance tires, unique spoilers and higher gear ratios. -Continued

"Changing the transmission oil gives us a 0.75 percent lower fuel consumption. Tyres with low rolling resistance save another two percent. Each of these measures may seem rather modest, but it is important to look at the whole picture. Taken together, all the small adjustments have helped us achieve our aim, with emissions below 120 g/km for all three cars. Without in any way compromising on either driving properties or comfort, which was an important requirement," says Magnus Jonsson, Senior Vice President, Research & Development at Volvo Cars.

The result is an average fuel consumption of 4.4 lt/100 km (64.2 UK mpg or 53.5 US mpg) in the C30 DRIVe and 4.5 lt/100 km (62.8 UK mpg or 53.3 US mpg) in the S40 and V50 DRIVe with corresponding CO2 figures of 115 and 118 g/km. The new DRIVe variants of the C30, S40 and V50 will go on sale in Europe by the end of the year.

Reduced air resistance:

• Chassis height reduced by about 10 mm. Same comfort setting as the standard car.
• Spoiler at the front, the same as on the T5 (S40 and V50).
• Covered radiator grille. Behind the characteristic Volvo grille there is a wind-deflecting panel that provides better aerodynamics inside the engine compartment.
• Wind deflectors in front of the front wheels.
• Aerodynamically optimised wheels of special design. Available in 15 and 16 inch sizes.
• Underbody panels for more efficient airflow under the car as well (C30).
• Unique rear spoiler (C30). The S40 has the same spoiler as the T5 and D5 models.
• New rear bumper (C30).

Lower rolling resistance:

• All the cars are equipped as standard with a new generation of Michelin tires with low rolling resistance. Available for 15 and 16 inch wheels.

Higher ratios:

• Gearbox with altered ratios for third, fourth and fifth gears.

More efficient driveline:

• Optimised engine cooling, engine management and power steering.
• New transmission oil with lower friction.
• Gearchange indicator in the information display

Volvo Recalling MY '08-'09 S40, V50, C30 & C70

More than 1,000 Volvo MY 2008-2009 S40, V50, C30, C70 vehicles are being recalled in the U.S. because of a faulty power steering house that may rupture. If this happens, it could lead to a rapid drainage of the power steering fluid in the system and a complete loss of power assistance, something that could increase the risk of a crash. Volvo dealers will inspect and replace the steering return line hose assembly free of charge. For more information, owners can contact Volvo at 1-800-458-1552.

Volvo Enters WTCC with Ethanol-Powered C30 Green Racer

Following its debut at the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC), Volvo has decided enter its new ethanol E85 powered C30 Green Racer in the WTCC (World Touring Car Championship) at Brands Hatch on the 26 - 27th of July. Although the C30 Green Racer will not be eligible to race for points since it uses Ethanol E85, the Swedish carmkaer wants to evaluate the car against the strongest of competition. In STCC, the C30 Green Racer has managed so far to secure three out of seven pole positions and has led close to half of all laps driven. -Continued

“We are naturally excited to come to Brands Hatch. This race was on the ‘to-do-list’ in our plan for the C30 from the start. We wanted this as a check point to see how far we have come against the best,” says Derek Crabb, Motorsport Director at Volvo Cars. “We are climbing up the development curve of this car and we strongly believe the Volvo C30 may become a very competitive car in any FIA Super 2000 championship. However, it is important to stay pragmatic and do things in the right order.”