Volvo Cars to go electric in Australia from 2026
Volvo Cars will only offer electric cars in Australia from 2026. As Volvo Australia announces, no new combustion models will be introduced there either. The decision is probably not entirely uncontroversial, even among Volvo dealers there.
The changeover to pure electric cars in Australia will thus take place four years earlier than Volvo Cars is planning worldwide. Volvo has just introduced the all-electric C40 Recharge in Australia, as the second electric model after the already available XC40 Recharge. Volvo does not currently have any other battery-electric models on offer either.
Three more electric models are expected to follow in Australia by 2026: The EX90, which is about to be unveiled, a compact electric SUV and an as-yet-unnamed electric sedan. That Volvo is working on a compact electric SUV below the XC40 had already been confirmed by former CEO Hakan Samuelsson. The model is to be based on Geely’s SEA platform and is thus likely to be technically not entirely dissimilar to the Smart #1. The XC20 has been speculated as a possible model designation so far. Australian media assume in the current articles (probably also in reference to the EX90) that the model will be launched as the EX30.
Volvo Australia’s goal is to sell 20,000 all-electric cars per year in the future. To support sales and service, all Volvo dealers in Australia are to receive DC chargers with at least 75 kW power.
Apparently, the BEV course is not entirely uncontroversial in Australia: as the portal Drive reports, some dealers are said to have asked the company to sell petrol and electric cars in parallel for as long as possible. “We need as many cars as we can get our hands on, why say no to petrol cars if people want to keep buying them?” one anonymous dealer is quoted as saying.
But Volvo Australia reiterated the decision: “We’re not going to wait until 2030,” Stephen Connor, chief executive of Volvo Car Australia, told a media conference. “We’ve seen an opportunity in our marketplace today and our consumers are ready for this. Tesla will sell 20,000 cars this year and the Australian consumer is looking for change. Consumers aren’t just mum and dad anymore, it’s the kids telling their parents what they want them to buy.”
In Europe, Volvo Cars has already stopped selling combustion-only cars in two countries: In Norway and Denmark, the manufacturer reportedly already only offers electric cars and plug-in hybrids.
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