Volvo To Launch Only Electric And Hybrid Cars From 2019

Five fully electric cars will be launched between 2019 and 2021

“There will in future be no Volvo cars without an electric motor.” This is quite a declaration that’s been made by Volvo. The brand has officially confirmed that starting 2019, it will completely shift focus to hybrids and pure electric vehicles as a part of its goal to minimise the environmental impact of its cars.

This means that in less than two years, you won’t see a new Volvo car powered by just an internal combustion engine (ICE) - petrol or diesel. The carmaker has gone on to confirm that it will launch five new pure electric vehicles between 2019 and 2021. Of these five launches, three will be Volvos while the other two will be high-performance Polestar models. Full details of these models will be announced at a later date.

Apart from these five cars, a range of petrol and diesel plug-in hybrid and mild hybrid 48-volt options will be introduced across Volvo’s model range. “Volvo Cars has stated that it plans to have sold a total of 1 million electrified cars by 2025. When we said it we meant it. This is how we are going to do it.” said Hakan Samuelsson, Volvo’s president and CEO.

The brand’s move is symbolic of the direction that the industry as a whole is moving in. With the batteries needed for electric/hybrid cars becoming cheaper as well, you can expect similar moves from major global car manufacturers. Global emission norms are getting more stringent by the day and going the electric/hybrid way is the only long-term solution to keep sales growing. Traditional petrol and diesel engines are still far from dead but in time, forced induction, particularly turbocharging, will become more widespread as well.

In India, Volvo currently sells only one hybrid car, the XC90 T8 Excellence. Expect more hybrid models in the years to come. For now, the diesel-only V90 Cross Country is the next launch on the anvil, scheduled for July 12, 2017.

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