Volvo Car Corporation is counting on a future where multiple fuel types are commonly available, previewing a Multi-Fuel prototype vehicle at the Michelin Challenge Bibendum, starting this week in Paris, France. Hot on the heels of the ‘tetra-fuel’ Siena, announced by Fiat Brazil and due for release later this year, Volvo says the Multi-Fuel operates on five different fuels, with methane featuring in three of the variants.
Though both fuels contain methane as the prime fuel source, Volvo counts biomethane and natural gas as separate fuels, with the remaining fuels including HCNG (a blend of methane and hydrogen), gasoline and bioethanol E85 .
“It has a powerful engine that accelerates quickly and allows high performance on all five fuels,” says Hans Folkesson, former Senior Vice President Research and Development at Volvo Car Corporation, now driving Environmental Technologies in Ford’s European Operations. The turbo charged engine has delivers 200 bhp and accelerates quickly for a smoother and more responsive drive.
The Multi-Fuel meets virtually all known emission standards in the world, including the proposed Euro 5. Running on pure renewable fuels like hydrogen, biomethane and bioethanol means negligible net contribution of carbon dioxide to the greenhouse effect
Volvo has not given any indication of a possible commercial release of the Multi-Fuel.
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