Volvo Cars is making the shift away from the internal combustion engine. The car manufacturer has announced that from 2019 onwards all new cars launched will feature an electric motor.
Its a bold step and represents one of the most significant moves by any car manufacturer to embrace electrification. “This is about the customer,” says Håkan Samuelsson, President and CEO. “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.”
The company explains that it will introduce a new portfolio of electrified cars across its model range, embracing fully electric cars, plug in hybrid cars and mild hybrid cars. The first part of the plan will see it launch five new fully electric cars between 2019 and 2021, three of which will be Volvo models and two of which will be high performance electrified cars from Polestar, Volvo Cars’ performance brand.
After that it will unveil a range of petrol and diesel plug in hybrid and mild hybrid (48 volt) derivatives in all model ranges, representing one of the broadest electrified car offerings of any car manufacturer.
Pure ICE cars will therefore gradually be phased out and replaced by ICE cars that are enhanced with electrified drivetrains. “This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car,” continues Samuelsson. “Volvo Cars 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.”
