Volvo’s electric dream
THE elegant U. S. port city of Charleston, South Carolina, is notable for a few firsts. It heard the first shots of the Civil War and the first successful submarine attack took place there.
It’s also where Sweden-based, but Chinese owned, Volvo, founded in 1927, has built its first U.S. factory. What British motorists need to know is that it will build and export Volvo’s new upmarket S60 sport saloon to these shores — and it’s turned its back on diesel. The rival to BMW’s 5-series will cost from about £30,000. Later it will also build Volvo’s flagship XC90 SUV.
Significantly, the sporty new S60 saloon — with a range of up to 28 miles in electric-only power — will concentrate on cars with petrol, plug-in petrol- electric hybrid, and full electric power.
The vast new 1,600-acre factory, which I visited for its opening and the S60 global launch this week, adds to rapidly expanding Volvo’s two manufacturing plants and engine plants in Europe, three car factories and an engine plant in China, and assembly lines in India and Malaysia.
Volvo president and chief executive Hakan Samuelsson says: ‘The new S60 is one of the most exciting cars we’ve ever made. But it’s also our first without a diesel. None of the cars which follow will have diesel, either. We’re not developing new diesels.’ He insisted it was not a damning verdict on diesel fuel, but a pragmatic choice to commit to ‘electrification and a long-term future beyond the traditional combustion engine’. The company confirmed that its first fully electric Volvo will be the XC40 SUV and will be followed by the larger XC90. Last year, Volvo was the first global player to announce that from 2019 all new models will be electric in whole or part. The new S60 saloon will be available with turbocharged or supercharged 2- litre petrol engines. The T6 Twin Engine all-wheel drive plug-in hybrid generates a combined 340 hp, and the award-winning T8 Twin Engine all-wheel drive plug-in hybrid delivers 400 hp. Volvo’s petrol T5 and T6 petrol engines will be available at launch.