Seat’s electric car project presented to the Spanish government

As part of its global sustainable mobility plan for 2014, Seat presented to Miguel Sebastián, Spanish minister for Industry, Tourism and Business, an electrically-driven vehicle prototype on which the Spanish brand is currently working, a vehicle equipped with a lithium-ion battery for urban circuits, connected ingeniously to an internal combustion engine for interurban trips, with an optimized consumption level.

The first electrically-driven car prototype by Seat is based on a León. Besides the electric engine that took the place of the traditional combustion engine modifications have been made in elements such as the gearbox, power braking, heating and cooling systems, and a substantial part of the electronics. The lithium-ion batteries located in the rear feed the engine with 35kW of sustainable power and provide the car a top speed of 100 km/h

Twin Drive Ecomotive consists of the development of a hybrid vehicle that combines the well-tested efficiency of SEAT’s Ecomotive cars with the advantages of the electrical propulsion and represents the brand’s first step towards a 100% electric car.

The presentation of the electrically powered León Twin Drive Ecomotive was made at the Seat Technical Centre and was also attended by Antoni Soy, the Catalan government’s Secretary for Industry and Business as well as the mayors of the municipalities where Seat has facilities installed.

García Sanz, member of Volkswagen’s Executive committee, explained the importance of this vehicle in terms of the investment made not only for the environment but also for the future of the Spanish brand. Sanz adds that Seat wants “to be leading players at the beginning of a process of development and industrialization of this type of car which combines an electric power unit with an internal combustion engine”. For the success of this product technology he secures that this is a project that needs electricity utility companies involvement as well as the clear support from governments, so that mobility and autonomy is assured to users.

In SEAT’s plan research within the field of ‘plug-in’ hybrid propulsion will be carried out to allow a gradual phasing-out of the use of the internal combustion engine so that SEAT can launch into the market models with very low consumption and environmentally-friendly CO2 emission levels before the end of the plan’s time-scale in 2014.