Volvo begins work on 3-cylinder Drive-E engine

Volvo has started testing a new 3-cylinder engine for cars like the S60 and XC60. The engine is part of the Drive-E family and comes in line with Volvo’s strategy of downsizing and relying on turbocharging and supercharging instead of building larger engines. While maintaining competitive power figures, this ensures adherence to stricter emission norms in the future and it’s a trend that is catching up world over. The 3-cylinder Drive-E engine will develop up to around 183PS of power.

“We have learned a lot from the development of our 4-cylinder Drive-E engines and translated this into a highly responsive, compact and powerful premium-quality 3-cylinder engine,” says Michael Fleiss, Vice President Powertrain at Volvo Car Group. The beauty of the Drive-E engine family is that it’s a modular design with 500cc cylinders in line. Add or subtract a cylinder and you can create an whole new engine with varying power outputs.

The output is either ECU, turbocharger or supercharger, both or all three working together to give a range of engines, and along with the Drive-E powertrain, the company has also conceptualized hybrid capabilities to further expand the range. The 3-cylinder engine can be manufactured on the same assembly line as it is built on a modular platform making engine construction streamlined , affordable and flexible.