Volvo charges ahead
THIS week’s decision by Volvo t o go electric has sent shockwaves through the car industry. But what does it mean for consumers?
Does it sound the death knell for diesel and petrol engines? That’s what I asked Volvo chief executive Hakan Samuelsson.
Possibly. But not for a while, he suggested, saying there were still some years left for the traditional internal combustion engine: ‘The consumer will decide.’
Samuelsson admitted he’d had to accelerate his original plans for electrification, but insisted: ‘This is about the customer. People increasingly demand electrified cars, and we want to respond to our customers’ current and future needs.’
So, from 2019, every new car a Volvo launches will have some form of electric motor, marking ‘the historic end’ of vehicles that have only an internal combustion engine; diesel or petrol.
Volvo is introducing a portfolio of cars that, to varying degrees, are ‘electrified’. They range from fully electric cars to plug- in hybrids, which combine an electric motor with a diesel or petrol engine, and ‘mild-hybrids’, which use a 48-volt motor to give an extra kick to conventionally powered cars. Five fully electric cars will be launched between 2019 and 2021. Three will be new Volvo models and two highperformance electric cars from its performance arm Polestar. Cars launched before 2019, including the XC60 and XC40 due this year, will continue in petrol and diesel for their lifecycle, typically seven years. Tighter emissions rules, political attacks and taxes on even the cleanest new diesels have all played a part. Volvo has already seen UK diesel sales drop from 93 per cent in 2015 to 78 per cent in the year to date. Almost three in ten XC90 UK sales last year were electric hybrid, compared with the expected five to ten per cent.
Industry figures this week show that of 1.4 million new cars registered in the UK so far this year, 58,657 are ‘alternatively fuelled’, taking 4.2 per cent of the market, while diesel sales slumped.
Volvo has been owned since 2010 by Geely, of China, the country which is leading the charge in electric cars.
Nissan, Renault, BMW, and VW are among electric rivals. Tesla is delivering its new Model 3 this month. Jaguar is entering the fray with its electric I-Pace SUV.
ELECTRIC charging point provider Chargemaster is opening the country’s first multibrand electric showroom on Saturday, July 22.
Based at the Centre: MK in Milton Keynes, visitors to the Electric Vehicle Experience Centre can test drive more than 50 plug-in cars.