In a major step towards pursuing
an all electric dream, premium car maker Volvo Cars has announced that every
Volvo it launches from 2019 will have an electric motor. This will then mark
the historic end of cars that only have an internal combustion engine (ICE) and
placing electrification at the core of its future business.
The announcement represents one of the most
significant moves by any car maker to embrace electrification and highlights
how over a century after the invention of the internal combustion engine
electrification is paving the way for a new chapter in automotive history.
“This is about the customer,” said Håkan
Samuelsson, president and chief executive. “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,” he
said in a press release.
Volvo Cars will introduce a
portfolio of electrified cars across its model range, embracing fully electric
cars, plug in hybrid cars and mild hybrid cars.
It will launch five 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 car arm. Full details of these models will be announced at a later
date.
These five cars will be
supplemented by a range of petrol and diesel plug in hybrid and mild hybrid 48
volt options on all models, representing one of the broadest electrified car
offerings of any car maker.
This means that there will in
future be no Volvo cars without an electric motor, as pure ICE cars are
gradually phased out and replaced by ICE cars that are enhanced with
electrified options.
“This announcement marks the end of the solely
combustion engine-powered car,” said Samuelsson, adding that “Volvo Cars has
stated that it plans to have sold a total of 1m electrified cars by 2025. When
we said it we meant it. This is how we are going to do it.”
The announcement underlines Volvo Cars’
commitment to minimising its environmental impact and making the cities of the
future cleaner. Volvo Cars is focused on reducing the carbon emissions of both
its products as well as its operations. It aims to have climate neutral
manufacturing operations by 2025.
The decision also follows this month’s
announcement that Volvo Cars will turn Polestar into a new separately-branded
electrified global high performance car company. Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice
President Design at Volvo Cars, will lead Polestar as Chief Executive Officer.