Swedish automotive company Volvo will stop making gas cars by 2019 and produce electric-only or hybrid vehicles. The company also announced that it will launch three new fully electric cars between 2019 and 2021, as well as two high-performance electrics under the Polestar brand. New hybrids will be a mix of petrol and diesel twin-engine plug-ins and 48-V “mild hybrid” options.
Electric cars are fully powered by a battery and electric motor, while hybrids receive a fuel-economy boost from a battery but still run on gasoline. Electric cars are becoming more and more popular as companies like all-electric Tesla surpass large motor companies such as Ford and General Motors.
Volvo aims to sell 1 million electrified cars by 2025, including a range of models both fully electric and hybrid.
“This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion-engine-powered car,” said CEO Hakan Samuelsson in a statement. “People increasingly demand electrified cars, and we want to respond to our customers’ current and future needs.”
The decision is a courageous commitment by a car company. Most major automakers offer hybrids and battery-powered options, but none have willingly eliminated cars powered only by gasoline or diesel fuel.
Initially, Volvo’s battery-powered vehicles will be made in China and eventually in Europe, but a new factory is also being built by the company near Charleston, South Carolina.
Carmakers predict that the share of electric cars will grow quickly as technology advances, prices fall, and public charging stations become more readily available. Improvements in self-driving cars will also inspire a shift to battery power as it’s easier to link self-driving software to an electric motor than to a conventional engine.
Source: NYT
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