Volvo Recharge

They don't think you will see the Volvo Recharge in production before 2015 (or so). Too bad. 4 wheel drive, eliminate transmission loss (about 10% on most cars) and at 100 kilometers (about 61 miles) per charge, most commuting can be done on battery power. Need to go farther? There is a generator.

Of course by 2015, batteries will be a lot better.

Not sure if this is the same motor, or not, but some more engineering-type views.