Volvo confirms it is shifting to electric power

All Volvos to have part-electric models by 2019, and five full EVs from 2019-2021.

What's the news?

Volvo has confirmed that every model it launches from 2019 onwards will have an electric motor - marking the historic end, it says, of cars that only have an internal combustion engine (ICE).

Volvo wants to put electrification at the core of its future business and the announcement makes it one of the leading manufacturers to embrace the idea of an all-electric line-up; although Toyota/Lexus would be more than happy to claim that they were the pioneers of hybrids.

Nevertheless, Volvo will launch five fully electric cars between 2019 and 2021, three of which will be branded Volvos, while the other two will be 'high-performance electrified cars' from the Polestar division.

The full EVs will be supplemented by plug-in hybrids and mild 48-volt hybrids across the rest of the Swedish outfits vehicle ranges, meaning that in the future there will be no Volvos with just ICEs; all of them will, one day, have an electric motor of some sort.

Anything else?

Hakan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo, said: "This is about the customer. People increasingly demand electrified cars and we want to respond to our customers' current and future needs. You can now pick and choose whichever electrified Volvo you wish.

"This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car. Volvo has stated that it plans to have sold a total of one million electrified cars by 2025. When we said it, we meant it. This is how we are going to do it."

Published on: July 6, 2017