Plug-in power: Volvo’s T8 chassis adds electric power to combustion engine
Electric shock
time is set for 2019 Volvo’s recent announcement that it would no longer launch diesel- and petrol-only models came as a surprise to the auto industry, a business that rarely delivers the totally unexpected. Tony Lewin looks at the implications for the sector.
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he effect of Volvo’s decision is to call time on petrol and diesel as automotive fuels and to mark out a glidepath towards fully carbon-neutral electric and hydrogen power by the middle of the century. The development was given added impetus when France’s new environment minister expressed the intention of weaning French motorists off these liquid fuels by 2040. In practice, at least as far as Volvo is concerned, the move means that from 2019 every Volvo will be electrified in some way – either as a pure battery model, or a hybrid with either a petrol or diesel main engine. Full details of how much electric range will be on offer have not yet been given, but with even the mildest of the hybrids operating with the new 48-volt technology, useful electric autonomy can be expected. 6 Industry Europe
The likelihood, then, is that from 2019 the Volvo brand will see a steadily declining proportion of petrol and diesel hybrids in its sales mix as battery and pure-electric technology improves and more customers come on board. In parallel, the Swedish company is re-purposing its Polestar performance sub-brand as a standalone marque for pure electric cars – a clear move to counter the all-electric success story of California’s Tesla, and evidence that Volvo has a clear view of which way the market is shifting. Five fully-electric models will be launched by 2021, three under the Volvo label and two as high-performance Polestar designs. “This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car,” said Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson. “Volvo Cars has stated that it plans to have sold a
total of 1m electrified cars by 2025. When we said it we meant it. This is how we are going to do it.” Other leading groups are converging on a consensus expectation that by 2025 one quarter of all production will be electric, though definitions of what constitutes electric do vary from brand to brand and past predictions have often been wide of the mark. But whatever the eventual figure, it is clear that with today’s electric share still below 1 per cent a major shake-up is in the offing – not just in the industry’s own engineering supply chain but also on the retailing side. There could, for instance, be major opportunities for other activities such as shopping, sport and cinema- and theatregoing to be linked in to the recharging of customers’ electric cars.
