According to Volvo president and CEO Hakan Samuelsson, the Swedish carmaker expects to be a fully electric car brand within the next 20 years, although this is dependant on the demands of customers moving forward.
The company recently revealed its first mass-market electric vehicle in the form of the XC40 Recharge, and announced plans to be climate neutral by 2040. Volvo wants EVs to account for 50% of its global sales by 2025, adding that every new model its launches as of this year will be electrified, with a fully electric car to be introduced over the next five years.
Speaking to Autocar UK, Samuelsson stated that it was only a matter of when Volvo becomes an electric-only brand rather than if it will, saying, “the ones who will decide [the timing] in the end are the customers. The higher the percentage of all-electric cars, the faster we will shut down the combustion engine. If only a small percent [of sales] are combustion engines we will probably stop faster.”
For now, the company has yet to reveal what EVs will come after the XC40 Recharge, but the company appears committed to offering electric versions of existing models, and has developed powertrains that suit this approach.
The XC40 is built on the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA), and is available with a conventional internal combustion engine, plug-in hybrid or fully-electric powertrain. For larger models like the XC60, XC90, S60 and S90, the company is currently working on a new version of the Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) used for these cars, which is slated to debut in 2021, beginning with the next-generation of the XC90.
Volvo’s sub-brand Polestar, which it shares platforms and development with, already have the CMA-based Polestar 2, and is reportedly working on a new large SUV known as the Polestar 3 – to take on the Tesla Model X – possibility hinting at Volvo’s next EV.
“I wouldn’t rule out that we will expand that with other models of this size,” said Samuelsson, who added that the carmaker might consider introducing new nameplates comprised of smaller and bigger cars in the future.
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This is more than 20years behind Tesla.
tesla started as an electric car brand/company. Volvo did not, and besides that, still have customers who buy their cars that want an internal combustion engine. hence the explanation on customer demand.