Volvo is going all-in on electric. The company announced today that every vehicle it sells will come with an electric motor by 2019.
The automaker will launch five fully electric cars between 2019 and 2021, three of which will be Volvo models, and two will be part of Polestar, Volvo’s high-performance EV branch. The rest of their lineup will be plug-in hybrid cars or mild hybrids, which use a combination of internal combustion and electric.
While major carmakers have been producing hybrid vehicles for years, this is the first time a traditional car company will completely abandon the use of solely combustion engine-powered vehicles.
“Volvo Cars has stated that it plans to have sold a total of 1m electrified cars by 2025,”Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive at Volvo, said in a statement. “When we said it we meant it. This is how we are going to do it.”
The company also announced a goal to have climate-neutral manufacturing operations, or a net zero carbon footprint, by 2025. This dedication to clean energy is likely in response to strengthening emissions requirements and guidance from Greely, the company’s Chinese owners. China wants there to be 4.8 million charging stations for 5 million electric vehicles on its roads by 2020.
Electric vehicles are expected to account for 15 to 30 percent of new vehicle sales by 2030.
H/T CNN