Volvo says all models from 2019 to be hybrid or electric
Swedish car maker says in the next two years it will abandon basic petrol and diesels for mild, full hybrid and pure-electric powerplantsVolvo has announced it is turning its back on traditional petrol and diesel engines for an all-electrified future.
Come 2019 and the Swedish brand says every single model it launches with come with either a 48-volt mild hybrid, full hybrid or pure-electric powertrain in its bid to cut fuel consumption and reduce emissions.
Around 2023-2025 Volvo says it will not sell a single vehicle powered solely by an internal combustion engine.
Making the announcement late last night, Volvo confirmed it was readying five pure-electric cars that will be introduced from 2019-2021 which will include two high performance Polestar models.
From 2019, the brand says even the most basic petrol or diesel will come with its new 48-volt mild hybrid powertrain, while more expensive models will be offered with a plug-in petrol or diesel powertrains developed from its T8 Twin Engine-powered S90 and XC90 models.
By 2025, Volvo says it hopes it will have sold a total of 1 million electrified cars.
Reducing overall emissions further, the Swedish car maker says it aims to have a "climate neutral" manufacturing facility in operation at its European, US and Chinese factories.
Last month Volvo declared its Polestar performance sub-brand would become a completely "electrified brand" - hinting that all future Polestar-branded vehicles would come with pure-electric or hybrid powertrains.
Key to the implementation of the pure-electric and hybrid powertrain plan is Volvo's big car Scalable Production Architecture (SPA) and the, soon to be launched, Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform (that will underpin the small cars like the next V40 and XC40 SUV).
Both SPA and CMA underpinnings have been designed and engineered to accommodate full electric powertrains, plug-in hybrid and 48-volt powertrains.
The announcement of the move to electrified powertrains will end the Swedish car maker's development of next-generation combustion engines.
The move to an electrified future comes in the wake of some countries announcing tougher emission regulations for diesels or outright bans in city centres.
Currently, more than 80 per cent of vehicles Volvo sells in Europe are diesel-powered.
It's not known when the Swedish car maker plans to introduce its 48-volt mild hybrid powertrain but it's thought it could be introduced as soon as 2018.
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