Volvo Commits to Electrification

In a bold announcement this week, Volvo has declared that every car in its lineup will have at least one electric drivetrain motor by 2019. This puts the Swedish brand in a unique position as the first mainstream automaker to fully embrace electric power. Indeed, Volvo has committed itself to an electrified future from the moment it put together a plan to revamp its entire lineup.

Volvo's product plan moving forward is incredibly simple. The brand will focus on three key models in three different sizes. Each size range of vehicles will include a sedan, an SUV, and a wagon. So far only the large 90 series of vehicles has been brought to market. All 90 series cars, as well as the upcoming range of 60 series cars, ride on the same Scalable Product Architecture (SPA). Easing the transition to electric power and avoiding the packaging problems that come from adding extra motors and batteries, SPA was designed from the start to accommodate hybrid and electric powertrains. The same can be said of the smaller Compact Modular Architecture which will underpin a range of 40 series models.

Volvo's only hybrid vehicle at the moment is the plug-in XC90 T8. Dubbed "Twin-Engine," a rear mounted 87 hp electric motor powers the rear wheels while a smaller 46 horsepower motor provides power to the front wheels when needed. The electric motors combine with the four cylinder turbocharged and supercharged gasoline engine for a total system output of 400 hp and 472 lb-ft of torque. This October, the 2018 XC60 T8 will debut using the same setup as its bigger brother. 

High performance electric vehicles are also on the table, and will be sold under the Polestar brand. Polestar has origins in Volvo's motorsports program, making championship winning homologations for various European touring car series. Polestar was purchased by Volvo in 2015 and has assisted in the development of sporty versions of the S60 and V60, sort of like BMW's M division. As separate brands, the relationship between Volvo and Polestar will be similar to that of Hyundai and Genesis. Polestar and Volvo models will share chassis, electronics, and powertrains together. Regular Volvo models fettled by Polestar will carry the "Polestar Engineered" label.

Full details are scant at the moment, but Volvo has promised to provide more details sometime in the fall. Volvo boldly hopes to sell 1 million electric cars by 2025. That would require a substantial increase in market share since the brand only sold 534,000 cars in 2016. Nevertheless, plentiful money supplied by parent company Geely puts Volvo in a much better position to achieve its dreams.