Volvo has become the latest automaker to pledge to be completely electric by the year 2030. CEO and President Hakan Samuelsson recently said that proposed combustion-engine bans in Europe and Japan by 2030 are not concerning to the Swedish automaker. In fact, Volvo already had plans of its own to only develop electric vehicles within the next decade.
Samuelsson said he’d be shocked if Volvo wasn’t a pure EV company by 2030. They are already planning to be halfway there by 2025. While he hasn’t set a hard deadline on the delivery of Volvo’s last internal-combustion engine, the company wants 20% of their sales in 2021 to be electrified. The goal is up that to half by 2025.
The Inevitable Switch to EV
The admission by Samuelsson makes Volvo the second legacy brand (after Bentley) to promise switching to full EV manufacturing by 2030.
“The way forward would be to have clear rules on when we need to exit the combustion engine,” said Samuelsen. He added that he and other executives at Volvo are not fazed by recent government bans on combustion-powered cars by 2030. He simply expects Volvo to already be there — and their customers to come along.
“Volvo will be very careful and deliver only electric engines before anybody has legal requirements for this,” he said.
Volvo is controlled by China’s Geely Automotive, along with Lynk & Co, Proton, Lotus, and the London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC).
Source: Volvo
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