First all-electric Volvo a standalone model due by 2019
Volvo’s first electric car will be an all-new hatchback due in 2019. It will be based on 40.2 concept and arrive as a standalone model.
The concept vehicle 40.2 Volvo first unveiled in Gothenburg in May 2016 is to become full-fledged electric car next year.
The production version of the 40.2 will look much like the concept, reveals Autocar. So the EV falls in the family of cars wearing the 40 badge, designating them as compact Volvos.
The range of the production electric car though has increased with the Geely-owned brand now gearing for 500 rather than the initially announced 350 kilometres the concept specified.
R&D boss Henrik Green told Autocar that development “feels like every month we are updating the requirement, trying to add new competitive edges to the car because the technology is moving so fast now on a lot of areas, so it’s much more of a moving target.”
Hence Volvo is looking at a modular battery system for its cars but has not specified any numbers or minimum range (we reported). Green hopes that the more customers get used to electric vehicles, “they will settle around a convenient battery size (…) but in the transition time, a lot of people used to having a long range will pay for having a long range on electric vehicles.”
The concept 40.2 already sits on the new CMA (Compact Modular Architecture) that is also used by Geely for its smaller models. It accommodates all drivetrains, including PHEV and all-electric.
Volvo was the first carmaker to explicitly announce the electrification of its entire line up from 2019. Now a standalone model will make the start.
Volvo Trucks too announced its first battery-electric model to be launched by 2019 reportedly.
Furthermore, the performance arm of Volvo, Polestar is now an entirely electrified luxury label with the first models due by 2019 as well (we reported).
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