Volvo working on a car battery that could be shaped into body panels — Autoblog Green

Volvo working on a car battery that could be shaped into body panels — Autoblog Green

Where can you put an electric car's power source? Pretty much anywhere, as Volvo's new "Tomorrow's Volvo Car" sketch shows us. The idea here is to build a rechargeable battery into the car's body panels, and Volvo is saying that, "tests are currently under way to see if the vision can be transformed into reality."

Volvo Cars is working on these car panel batteries as part of a three-year, 3.5 million Euro (around $4.7 U.S. at today's exchange rate) materials development project started by the Imperial College in London earlier this year. Volvo, along with eight international partners (none of them car manufacturers), describes the material as a:

composite blend of carbon fibres and polymer resin is being developed that can store and charge more energy faster than conventional batteries can. At the same time, the material is extremely strong and pliant, which means it can be shaped for use in building the car's body panels.