Volvo announces all new car models electric or hybrid from 2019

Friday, July 7, 2017

On Wednesday, automobile company Volvo announced all of its cars to be released in 2019 onwards are to use some form of battery-powered engine, leaving conventional petrol-only vehicles altogether. The decision comes after Volvo announced in May their intent to cease production of diesel vehicles.

The chief executive of Volvo Cars, Håkan Samuelsson, said, "People increasingly demand electrified cars". Volvo aims to release five new electric vehicle models between 2019 and 2021. While little has yet been revealed about them, the company has stated two of them are to be high-performance electric vehicles, branded as Polestars.

Other car models from 2019 may be plug-in hybrid or 48-volt "mild hybrid" systems. Audi and Mercedes-Benz are also releasing mild hybrid cars for the European market.

"This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car. 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," Samuelsson said. Volvo is owned by Chinese automotive giant Geely, and China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has said by 2025 they want new vehicle sales to be 20 percent "new energy vehicles".

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Sources

AP. "Volvo: Car manufacturer goes electric, ditches vehicles powered solely by internal combustion engine" — ABC News (Australia), July 6, 2017
Jonathan M. Gitlin. "Volvo says from 2019 all new models it introduces will be electric or hybrid" — Ars Technica, July 5, 2017
Elisabeth Behrmann. "Volvo cars joins electric race with plan for five battery models" — The Sydney Morning Herald, July 5, 2017

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