SaabsUnited.com

A few days ago, a story appeared on the Swedish Radio website that hinted at a possibility that Saab could be producing electric cars for consumers by the end of this year.

SR quoted Saab’s technical director, Mats Fägerhag, saying that Saab had been lagging behind in terms of this technology and wanted to be at the forefront by the end of the year.

Several news agencies read this as meaning production vehicles, however I’ve heard from Saab in the last 24 hours, suggesting (as suspected) that SR were referring to the trial program that’s being run with Innovatum, ElectroEngine, Boston Power, etc, which will see 100 test vehicles leased to various business and municipal agencies by the end of the year.

Thanks to the people at Saab for the update.

Hey all,

It’s a long weekend here this weekend. And it’s a hot one here in Tassie.

Whilst we’ve been baking under blue skies, Melbourne – just a few hundred kilometers north of us – has had storms like you wouldn’t believe. One of our regulars, Mike900, works not far from a big BMW dealership in the city. He went down to take a look at their forecourt last night and everything there was hail damaged (10cm diameter hailstones, too).

Ouch.

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I guess I better get this on site as I’ve got a lot of email about it.

Saab’s head of Tech Development has been talking with Swedish Radio about electric cars. Specifically, about electric Saabs. If the Googletrans is correct, then Saab could be aiming to have electric technology available by the end of the year (?!)

Must be in the forefront of electric cars

Saab has come so far with its plans to manufacture a car that runs on electricity that it will start selling electric cars in one year.

- You will see hele-electric Saabs go out to the customer in December, “said Mats Fägerhag is technical director at Saab in Trollhattan.

Car manufacturers around the world focusing really hard to get the full electric cars. At the Geneva Motor Show, many brands and other companies that showed up their electric cars they were planning to launch within a few years.

But Saab is thus at once to get the electric cars already at the end of the year, although it remains to be done:

- We are lagging behind, I have known for a long time, “says Mats Fägerhag, but we are very fast so within a year we will be in the forefront.

But the foundation has been in the electric vehicle architecture driven by Innovatum in Trollhattan Saab, but that had more fingers in the pie than previously wanted to tell you:

- The elsaaben we were all very much behind But while we were out-owned GM, we had to be careful to tell us what we should invest in because it would be in line with the company’s other strategies. Going to a different degree of electrification we believe is a necessity, but since it is the question of how to do it, “says Mats Fägerhag.

I might have to send some emails out about this. When he says they’ll go out to customers in December, does that mean they’ll be available for sale, or they’ll send a bunch out to selected customers for field trials?

It’d certainly be another rabbit out of a hat if they could go electric so quickly. There has, of course, been the True Electric joint venture, but I didn’t think that was so close to being ready for public consumption. They were planning on producing 100 cars that would be distributed to corporate and municipal lessees in Sweden (with maybe a few in the US).

It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out.

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I’ve spent a good part of this evening wading through all the styling variables for the SU Forum. There are a lot of them!

Click that link and scroll down to the bottom. There you should see a drop down box with “Default Style” written there. Click the drop down and there should be an option for “SU Laser Red”.

It’s my first attempt at Forum theming, so be gentle. I know it needs a new header, but that’ll come in time.

The soft launch continues…..

The following is a Googletrans press release from Electro Engine:

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A Swedish co-operative with the task of rapidly developing high-performance electric cars has been shaped. On 10 December, Energy Agency took the necessary decision to launch the project. Two demo cars have already been presented this year and these have been very well received. The new project intends to produce over 100 electric cars in 2010.

The collaborative partners are Saab Automobile AB, Electro Engineering in Sweden AB, the battery company Boston-Power Inc., Innovatum AB in Trollhättan and the Power Circle, electric power industry association. These five parties have shown that there is a unique and competitive concept rooted in reality. Based on the positive experiences of demo vehicles, which have already been seen since the summer of 2009, they have now decided to go ahead and extend the electric car project.

The project ZE Saab 9-3, which recognized the zero emission of CO2 (Zero Emission), Swedish engineering gives a boost and encourage the dissemination of knowledge in the world in one of the hottest technology shifts that are currently unfolding. From the start of the project includes a unique combination of vehicle manufacturers (Saab), driveline supplier (Electro engine) and battery manufacturers (Boston-Power), Project Coordination (Innovatum) and the demonstration and power skills (Power Circle). At the same time, the proposal to provide for a Swedish kompetensnod for electric car development.

The team reflects the mix of skills needed to quickly get the vehicles in a demo fleet and thereby ensure a Swedish-based and competitive electric car solution. The cooperating parties behind the Swedish electric car has received support from the Energy Agency of 86 million kronor. The total project cost is approximately 200 million.

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And there’s some comment on this in NyTeknik today as well:

When the cars roll out from the assembly the next two years, they leased to municipalities, businesses and organizations. Half will roll in Gothenburg and Trollhättan, half in Uppsala and Stockholm.

- In addition, perhaps some ports in Boston, said Thomas Bergfjord CEO of Electro Engineering, which develops power electronics in cars……

……Saab in Trollhättan builds cars, but without engine, gearbox, exhaust and fuel tank. How much of the rest of the production, which could end up in Sweden is unclear.

The guys at Power Circle (a consortium of power providers in Sweden) are having their say about it too, calling for incentives from the government:

But if Sweden is to become a leading electric car electric car buyers nation must have some hefty carrots to nibble on to boost sales, according to Christer Asplund. An electric car is significantly more expensive than a conventional car.

He points to Norway and France, where state and municipal electric cars are taken seriously and implemented a series of incentives for electric car electric car owners and buyers – price discounts, tax rebates, and free parking, among other things.

Should the project be successful, they are predicting sales of up to 60,000 electric vehicle in Sweden by 2020. 10% of those are estimated to be Swedish, but let’s hope for more than that.

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Thanks to various contributors (you know who you are)

This seems like a little bit of a downer after all the promise showed by the Electro Engine Saab 9-3 Convertible, but it seems we might still be three years from regular production of an electric car from Sweden.

A gathering took place recently at the Innovatum facility in Trollhattan. All of the potential suppliers and manufacturers got together to see where the possibilities for electric vehicles were at.

Ny Teknik was there to cover it (Googletrans)

During a seminar at Innovatum technology park in Trollhättan, Saab Automobile and Volvo Cars discussed Swedish development of electric cars. 29 sub-contractors also had a chance to present techniques for the car makers – techniques which can allow a Swedish-made electric car within three years…..

The day seems to have been driven by an effort called the Flash Project, which seems to be a collaboration of a number of companies, including Saab and Electro Engine. It seems to be a government funded research project aimed at speeding the development of electric propulsion for mass produced automobiles.

There was a great openness between suppliers. All automakers have the same problem – to get electric cars are running well and be in the forefront when it comes to climate comfort. It is good if everyone uses the same type of solutions.” he tells Nyteknik.se, and continues:

- To create an electric car does not happen overnight, it is a very large project. But I really think that there were many great Swedish ideas at the seminar.

It seems we’re still all a while away from sneaking up behind pedestrians and scaring them inside out driving one of those sexy silent Electro Engine Saab 9-3 Convertibles, but hopefully Saab can remain at the forefront of this research and come up with a segment-leading example when it’s finally ready.

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Thanks Magnus!