Initially the project will focus on extending the range and practicality of plug-in hybrid vehicles, reports Sweden's Auto Motor and Sport. Making vehicles that rely more heavily on the electrical grid, which is powered by more efficient and cleaner power sources than the average automobile, mile-for-mile, is in America's environmental and national interest, as oil prices climb and global warming concern rises as well.
The cooperative project may seem a bit of an odd-couple pairing, but the relationship makes a lot of sense. The U.S. is Sweden's largest export car market, and also the country's largest investor nation. The co-development of plug-in hybrid technology will help Sweden sell more cars in the U.S., and the U.S. needs all the oil-dependency-reducing technology it can get.