Volvo Cars reveals triple-boosted 4-cylinder, 450 hp Drive-E powertrain concept
07 October 2014
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| Drive-E Powertrain Concept. Click to enlarge. |
Volvo has developed a concept 2-liter, 4-cylinder, triple-boost Drive-E concept engine that delivers 450 hp (336 kW). The 450 hp High Performance Drive-E Powertrain Concept is based on a set of technologies not usually found in a four-cylinder engine.
The engine utilizes two parallel turbochargers, which are fed by an electrically powered turbo-compressor. The compressed air from this unit, rather than being fed to the cylinders, is instead used to spool up the two parallel turbochargers. Fuel is fed by a dual fuel pump working at 250 bar pressure. With this kind of power density, this triple boost installation and unique fuel system enables a very dynamic drivability without any turbo lag, compared to a mono-turbo.
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| Dual fuel pump. Click to enlarge. |
There are several high power small size applications where one large turbo is used to create a high level of power available from other manufacturers, but the driving experience suffers due to slow engine response. We felt that with our heritage of being among the first car companies to embrace and offer a broad range of turbo technology since 1981, that we could improve this.
—Michael Fleiss, Vice President of Powertrain Engineering at Volvo Car Group
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| Twin Mechanical Turbos. Click to enlarge. | Electric Turbo Compressor Click to enlarge. |
The High Performance Drive-E Powertrain Concept attracted the attention and involvement of Volvo Cars suppliers AVL, Denso and Volvo Polestar Racing at an early stage, which allowed theories and technologies from racing applications to be infused in the development process.
When we launched the Drive-E powertrain family, our aim was to deliver the most advanced 4-cylinder engines in the industry based on emissions and fuel consumption relative to performance and drivability. We knew that 320 hp in our petrol configuration was just a starting point. The 450 hp High Performance Drive-E Powertrain Concept, demonstrates this ambition and the versatility of the Drive-E Powertrains.
It may sound odd, but this 450 hp powertrain concept is an important part of the Drive-E development program. Down-sizing must offer customers attractive and usable power for broad scale emissions reduction to work. Compact powertrains free up space and weight in the structure of the car, which can be used for electrification and even further emissions reduction. And that is our ultimate ambition.
—Dr. Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President for Research and Development at Volvo Car Group
With this improved ICE technology, a 500 CC to 600 CC engine vould be more than enough for a mid-size PHEV?
The fuel consumption is less relevent on a PHEV equipped qith a 40+ kWh battery pack.
Posted by: HarveyD | 07 October 2014 at 07:25 AM
1000cc with 200hp and 200fp of torque at 1500 rpm would do it for an EREV.
Posted by: SJC | 07 October 2014 at 07:46 AM
Seems like the 'drivability' benefits of a plugin or EREV can be provided by the electric motor. You want your ICE to have high thermal efficiency (downsized turbo or Atkinson cycle), but turbo lag can be avoided using electric boost.
This looks like a great race car/sports car engine, however--light, responsive, powerful. Build a light weight, mid-engine 2-seater around this. Zoom!
Posted by: Nick Lyons | 07 October 2014 at 08:23 AM
What are they using for fuel? The article refers to 320 hp in our petrol (gasoline) configuration but does not state what fuel is used for the 450 hp version. About the highest specific power of any commercially available vehicle is the GM 2 liter turbo with 272 hp. You can get more power with more boost but you will also have to run a different fuel to avoid detonation.
Posted by: sd | 07 October 2014 at 09:15 AM
Run E85/M85
Posted by: SJC | 07 October 2014 at 09:43 AM
The Mitsubishi EVO FQ400 (2009 model) gave 400 hp from a 2 litre engine and came with a 3 year 36k mile warranty, only problem was the horrible lag.
Posted by: clett | 07 October 2014 at 09:46 AM