Volvo Posts Wins At Swedish Touring Car Championship

By Glady Reign

The Swedish car manufacturer Volvo has always been known for their dedication to engineer safe vehicles for their consumers. In recent years, the company has also shown its concern for the environment by producing E85 capable vehicles. Aside from the vehicles, the company is also taking steps to make their facilities more environment-friendly.

More recently, the largest Swedish car manufacturer entered the Swedish Touring Car Championship with cars designed to run on bioethanol. The venture by Volvo in fielding E85 capable race cars paid off after they have taken first place at the first two rounds of the race event.

The Swedish Touring Car Championship is the first production car championship race to allow the use of bioethanol or E85. With the use of the alternative fuel, Volvo’s race cars produces 80 percent less carbon dioxide emissions compared to gasoline-powered vehicles participating in the championship.

The company’s objective by using E85 capable cars at the race is emphasized by Polestar Racing driver Robert Dahlgren who won the first two rounds of the event. “'Above all, this is a victory for the environment!,” says Dahlgren. The driver currently has the lead in the championship standings with 22 points to his credit.

The fuel used by Dahlgren’s car and the other Polestar Racing ethanol car is produced from the fermentation of sugar. To produce this fuel, organic materials are used. This means that it is a renewable source of energy - a good substitute to the irreplaceable petroleum fuel used widely by the global community for different applications.

Volvo saw the racing event to showcase the capability of engines running on E85. The said fuel is a combination of 85 percent bioethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Bioethanol can also be used in varying mixture with gasoline or as a pure ethanol fuel. In the United States, there are already numerous flex-fuel vehicles which can run on both gasoline and E85. Aside from the improvements being made by Volvo to their vehicles like reconfiguring the Volvo turn signal and the entire taillight assembly, the company also improves the capabilities of their E85 capable engines. The developments that Volvo has already achieved are evident in the performance of their race cars which have been fielded to compete at the Swedish Touring Car Championship.
Greg Maruszewski, the Regional Managing Director for Volvo GCC, has this to say about their recent achievements at the STCC: “Volvo winning the first two races while running on E85 is not only great news for Volvo but also for the environment, which is one of Volvo's core values. This confirms that Volvo can deliver speed, reliability and excitement both on and off the race track and that we can do it in an eco-friendly way.”

“We have already seen first signs of environmental awareness in the Middle East and I have no doubt that this will continue. I am confident that Volvo can play its part in this development,” says Maruszewski after the United Arab Emirates government announced that they will introduce a ‘Green City’ in Abu Dhabi. The said Green City will be dedicated to addressing environmental issues. As part of the Green City, the UAE government has already laid out plans to put up the world’s largest ‘Green building’.