Volvo Car plans to launch a plug-in hybrid and an all-electric car within two years. Other future Volvo car platforms also will be engineered to accommodate electric drive systems.

Lennart Stegland, president of Volvo’s special vehicles division, detailed the plans at the dedication of EnerDel Inc.’s new lithium-ion battery plant that is being constructed near Indianapolis. Volvo showed its concept C30 EV, which is fitted with an EnerDel battery pack, at the supplier’s press conference.

Stegland says modifications on future platforms will add room for the large lithium-ion battery packs and incorporate new crash energy load paths and additional cross-members that will better protect the batteries in collisions.

Volvo C30 EV

Volvo’s first foray into electric drive systems will be for niche models. The company plans to introduce a plug-in hybrid in Europe this year. Limited production of the all-electric car is expected to start in 2012. The cars will be built in Sweden initially for European markets.

Volvo’s new emphasis on electric drive—it still doesn’t offer a traditional hybrid—is primarily being driven by more stringent carbon dioxide emission standards in Europe that will require automakers to average 95 g/km by 2020, which is equivalent to about 65 mpg with petroleum-based fuel.

The C30 concept is powered by a 111-hp electric motor and has an anticipated driving range of at least 100 miles. Fully recharging the car’s lithium-ion battery takes about eight hours. The electric motor is located under the hood, and the batteries are installed in the propshaft tunnel in place of the fuel tank.

Volvo also is looking closely at the safety aspects of electric drive. The company notes that incorporating stability control systems into a regenerative braking system is problematic, for example. It says one reason EnerDel won the battery contract is because it tailored battery chemistry to best fit the application.

EnerDel’s new facilities will make the basic cells, assemble them into battery packs and add the control electronics.

Volvo will be one of the first customers of EnerDel’s new battery plant. The company was launched six years ago as a joint venture between Indianapolis-based Ener1 Inc. and Delphi Corp. Ener1 bought out Delphi in 2008. The new plant will make the battery cells, assemble them into packs and add control electronics.

Toyota Motor Corp. hasn’t decided yet how it will fix the 2.3 million vehicles covered in last week’s recall stemming from a faulty throttle pedal that could stick and cause unintended acceleration.

This new problem is mechanical and is not related to a campaign launched last year to fix 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus floormats that can jam under the accelerator pedal and prevent it from returning to its idle position. Toyota initially maintained that the earlier problem was caused solely by the design of the driver-side floormat. But it subsequently decided to change the shape of the accelerator pedal, install a brake override system and, in some cases, modify the floor pan under the foot pedals.

The new problem is caused by a mechanical mechanism that controls the accelerator pedal’s return to the idle position. Toyota says the problem is rare and can stem from excessive condensation. The glitch is not related to the car’s electronic throttle control (ETC) system, according to Automotive News. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hasn’t linked the ETC to the problem either, but the Center for Auto Safety believes there is a connection.

With Toyota’s ETC, redundant sensors are used to monitor the accelerator pedal’s position, and two other sensors are used for throttle position, according to AN. A separate controller actuates the throttle system and another system monitors all computer signals in the circuit. The engine is immediately returned to idle If any abnormal signals are detected,

Among the potential options being considered to fix the new problem are installing completely new foot pedals and improving the lubrication of the existing design, an unidentified source tells Automotive News.

Elkhart, Ind.-based CTS Corp. supplies the part to Toyota from a facility in Canada. Parts produced by Denso Corp., Toyota’s other accelerator pedal supplier, aren’t involved in the recall campaign.

AN didn’t indicate when Toyota will make a decision or how long the company thinks it will take to make the repairs. The newspaper notes that manufacturing 2.3 million new accelerator pedals would take a long time.

Toyota continues to sell new vehicles with the current design. It reasons that the problem occurs only after the vehicle has been in service some time and the accelerator starts to wear. The company also points out that motorists can override the accelerator by taking their foot off it and applying a steady pressure to the brakes.

Automakers and suppliers have shifted only a relatively small amount of engineering work to the developing nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China, according to a new study by Boston Consulting Group Inc. The study is based on interviews with about 250 executives at 49 companies.

Part of the problem, the authors say, is that centralized global functional departments constrain the activities of local research and development centers. The report found that 55% of foreign auto companies’ R&D centers in China and India and 30% of those in Brazil have little or no autonomy from global R&D centers. The report says these facilities also have only minimal levels of project responsibility.

Companies rely on BRIC countries even less when it comes to taking the lead for a specific project. Only 20% of the surveyed companies use Brazil as a center of competency in the development of global products. Just 10% do so in China, and half that amount use India this way.

Foreign OEMs and suppliers conduct virtually no engineering work of any kind in Russia, BCG says. This is partially attributed to the fact that Russian consumers typically prefer Western-styled cars and trucks, so local engineers aren’t needed to adapt products to the market. There also is a lack of experienced automotive engineers in Russia.

The authors say Brazil and India have the greatest near-term potential to become strong global engineering centers. Brazil is cited for its know-how of alternative-fuel systems, and India’s strength will be in applying information technology to vehicles.

Honeywell International Inc. says it will supply the turbocharger for General Motors Co.’s new Chevrolet Cruze small car that debuts later this year. The unit will help boost the output of the car’s 1.4-liter Ecotec I-4 engine, which will be mated to a choice of six-speed manual and automatic transmissions. The combination is expected to result in a fuel efficiency of 40 mpg on the highway.

The Cruze’s turbocharger features Honeywell’s latest technology, including advances in bearings and aerodynamics specifically suited for small gasoline engines, according to the supplier.

Honeywell expects turbocharger installations in the U.S. to grow to 25% of the new vehicle market by 2014, a five-fold increase over 2009 levels. It says the growth will stem from downsizing efforts aimed at improving fuel economy while maintaining power outputs. Over the next decade, the average engine displacement in vehicles sold in the U.S. likely will drop from 3.6 liters to 2.9 liters, the company says.

SIM-Drive Corp., a Japanese consortium formed in August, says it has 34 member organizations, including Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Isuzu Motors Ltd. The group’s goal remains the same: Build a prototype of an all-electric vehicle by year-end and commercialize the system in 2013.

SIM-Drive, a venture company started at Keio University, is further developing in-wheel motor technology patented by Keio University and Hiroshi Shimizu, a professor in the school’s Faculty of Environment and Information Studies program. Shimizu will serve as president of the new company.

The company claims the in-wheel system will double an EV’s driving range to about 186 miles per charge. The consortium also hopes to keep the cost of future EVs (excluding batteries) to about the same as that of traditionally powered cars.

Several automakers and suppliers have already shown concept hybrid/electric vehicles with in-wheel motors. One of the first was General Motors Co.’s Autonomy fuel cell vehicle in 2002.

Companies will pay $225,000 to SIM-Drive to use the proprietary technology. Other members include Benesse Corp., used-car dealer Gulliver International Co., Marubeni Corp. and Kyoto-based “green” technology startup Nano-Optonics Energy Inc.