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Volvo has announced that it will have an all-electric car on sale by 2019 along with a full range of plug-in hybrid vehicles. The statement came as President and CEO of Volvo Cars, Hákan Samuelsson, announced a new strategy that will see increased electrification of the company's range along with the introduction of a new small car platform. "We believe that the time has come for electrified cars to cease being a niche technology and enter the mainstream. We are confident that in two years' time, 10 per cent of Volvo's global sales will be electrified cars," he added.
The Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) is a versatile platform that will form the basis for a new small car that will be launched in 2017. Using much of the technology gleaned from the larger Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) that underpins the new Volvo XC90, the CMA will allow the Swedish car maker to produce smaller cars without sacrificing premium engineering qualities.
Both the CMA and SPA platforms are specifically designed to accommodate plug-in hybrid technologies and it is believed that the CMA will also be capable of accepting all-electric drivetrains and accommodating the larger batteries that would be required for this.
Björn Annwall, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing and Customer Service at Volvo Car Group, said: "CMA is a key part of the continued growth strategy of the Volvo Cars brand. Apart from offering all the benefits and features of a larger premium car, such as the industry-leading safety, powertrain and infotainment technologies, CMA will deliver a true and distinctive Volvo driving and ownership experience setting it apart from others in this growing premium segment."
Volvo has already demonstrated its ability to produce plug-in hybrid vehicles with its current XC90 T8 Twin Engine, which delivers 407hp yet emits just 49g/km making it one of the lowest emission large SUVs. It is believed that a similar setup will be offered on the forthcoming S90 large saloon that is due to appear in 2016.
"We have learned a lot about how people use cars with electrification thanks to our current product offer," said Dr Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President for Research and Development. "Our research has shown that people are driving our Twin Engine cars in electric mode around 50 per cent of the time, meaning our plug-in hybrids already offer a real alternative to conventional powertrain systems."
Anything else?
Volvo is also ensuring that its new CMA platform is capable of carrying all of the various safety equipment that it has been developing over the years as part of its Vision 2020, whereby the company claims to have no deaths or injuries in its cars by 2020.