Press release 14 March 2008
Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications
Ministry of the Environment

Joint initiative to present Swedish electric cars

The Swedish car and power industries are now joining forces to launch the next generation of green cars. Today sees the presentation of the cooperation project to create hybrid vehicles that can be charged with electricity directly from the wall socket. The Government is investing SEK 240 million to partially finance research into environmentally friendly vehicles. The Swedish Energy Agency is providing SEK 20 million in support of this new cooperation project.

"We have decided to cooperate so as to speed up the development of the next generation of cars and engines. When companies, politicians and industry make a joint decision to move issues forward we can achieve better results. This can become a major and important technological advance, and one that is needed to tackle the threat of climate change," says Minister for Enterprise and Energy Maud Olofsson.

"Sweden can be a world leader when it comes to creating the solutions needed to adapt means of transport - solutions that are now in demand throughout the rest of the world. Green solutions from the Swedish car and power industries can benefit from export successes and at the same time make an important contribution to solving the world´s climate and energy problems," says Minister for the Environment Andreas Carlgren.

The aim of the cooperation project presented today is to develop and demonstrate plug-in hybrids, the next generation of hybrid vehicles that can be charged directly from a wall socket. Elforsk - the research organisation of Sweden´s electricity companies - has calculated that if 70 per cent of Swedish cars were to run on electricity, carbon dioxide emissions from private cars would decrease by 80 per cent.

This project is a collaboration between Saab Automobile, Volvo Car Corporation, Vattenfall AB and ETC AB. The project is being carried out with the support of the Swedish Energy Agency. A total of SEK 62 million is being invested in the project, and the Swedish Energy Agency is contributing SEK 20 million of this.

The project will see plug-in models from Saab and Volvo become operational - models that the manufacturers intend to make available on the market within a few years.

The reason given by the Swedish Energy Agency for its decision to support the project is that Sweden is particularly suitable for the development and demonstration of plug-in hybrids as a cold climate often makes great demands on batteries.