Volvo says it’ll make solely electrical autos by 2030. But in order for you one, you’ll have to purchase it on-line.
The Swedish automaker mentioned Tuesday that it’s phasing out the manufacturing of all vehicles with inner combustion engines — together with hybrids.
“There is no long-term future for cars with an internal combustion engine,” mentioned Henrik Green, Volvo’s chief know-how officer.
Volvo’s announcement follows General Motors’ pledge earlier this 12 months to make solely battery-powered autos by 2035.
Volvo additionally mentioned that, whereas its all-electric autos shall be bought completely on-line, dealerships will “remain a crucial part of the customer experience and will continue to be responsible for a variety of important services such as selling, preparing, delivering and servicing cars.”
As a part of the announcement Tuesday, the Swedish automaker will unveil its second totally electrical automotive, a follow-up to final 12 months’s XC40 Recharge, a compact SUV. Volvo mentioned its objective is to have half of its international gross sales to be totally electrical vehicles by 2025, with the remaining half made up of hybrids.
Automakers world wide are ramping up manufacturing of electrical autos as charging know-how improves and governments impose stricter air pollution laws.
“We are firmly committed to becoming an electric-only car maker,” Green mentioned. “It will allow us to meet the expectations of our customers and be a part of the solution when it comes to fighting climate change.”
Despite the rising variety of EVs out there within the U.S., totally electrical autos accounted for lower than 2% of recent automobile gross sales final 12 months. Americans proceed to spend report quantities on gas-powered vans and SUVs.
About 2.5 million electrical autos have been bought worldwide final 12 months and business analyst IHS Markit forecasts that to extend by 70% in 2021.
Volvo says it bought 661,713 vehicles in about 100 nations vehicles worldwide in 2020. According to Autodata Corp., 107,626 of these autos have been bought within the U.S.
Founded in 1927, Volvo Cars has been owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group since 2010.
