Volvo Cars and energy supplier Vattenfall are developing an electric car that can be charged using a standard household wall socket.

The same day as the American automotive colossus General Motors files for bankruptcy, Volvo, based in Gothenburg and owned by Ford, announced a new way of powering cars.

In a unique industrial joint venture with Vattenfall, the Nordic region’s biggest utility, the companies aim to put a plug-in hybrid car, that can be fully charged in just five hours, on the Swedish streets by 2012. The companies didn’t say how much the venture will cost.

"There is no doubt that the environmental issue is at the very top of Volvo Cars' product development agenda right now," says Stephen Odell, President and CEO of Volvo Cars, in a statement. "Carbon dioxide emissions from our cars will be drastically reduced by the plan we are now implementing and our aggressive electrification strategy will put us in a leading position when it comes to environmentally optimised passenger transport."

Under the partnership, Vattenfall will develop charging systems and supply the electricity while Volvo will manufacture the cars that are powered by both electricity and diesel.