- Volvo may stop making petrol-powered cars sometime after 2030 even if demand remains
- Charging infrastructure, slower EV adoption rates are lagging behind new timeline
- Volvo PHEVs will continue to evolve towards electric vehicles, with smaller engines
Although Volvo last week scrapped plans to sell only plug-in cars by 2030, dilates electrochemical target by 90% By then, company executives were keen to add some nuance to the announcement.
Under the revised timeline, Volvo made it clear in a series of press roundtables last week that this does not mean it will continue to build gasoline-powered models as long as regulators allow them to be sold. And it remains prepared to switch to 100% plug-in vehicles at that point if the market demands it.
“We don’t want to chase BMW in engine manufacturing“We want to build the best software-defined cars,” said Björn Annwall, Volvo’s chief operating officer and deputy CEO.
Annwall is referring to statements made by BMW earlier this year, stating that the company will continue to invest in engines.
Volvo’s head of engineering and R&D, Anders Bell, also confirmed that while the company will likely produce a small number of mild hybrids without charging ports early next decade, the announcement does not change anything for Volvo ends production of internal combustion engines. Volvo a few years ago, on the business front, closed ICE and separated from its engine developmentwith production being carried out by a new company jointly owned by parent company Geely, with engines used in vehicles across Geely’s various brands.
Recharge Volvo S60 2024
Infrastructure charging is partly responsible
“Over the past few years… in general, in the industry, everyone has thought that battery electric vehicles would be adopted faster,” Bell said. “Infrastructure is not developing as quickly as expected in some areas, and we have to be realistic.”
Volvo currently has approx. 1.5% of global marketby sales, Annwall said, and in the early years of the next decade, if the global market reaches about 50-70% electric vehicles, Volvo will be fine with abandoning this non-plug-in car business.
“I wish we had a crystal ball, and I think today’s announcement is about the fact that we don’t have a crystal ball,” said Annwall, explaining that the announcement gives Volvo some strategic flexibility in how fast markets are growing in different parts of the world.
“It’s not about cutting back on the vision of going all-electric,” he added. “It’s about keeping the current technology fresh and competitive for longer, until 2030 and beyond, if necessary, to be able to enter those markets.”
“I believe we will reach the all-electric target faster,” the CEO said, reflecting on the new target. “If we talk about the Nordics, if we talk about Norway, we would have said it yesterday.”
Volvo used last week’s announcement as an opportunity to emphasize Super focus technology for software and electronic architecture set to debut on EX90 2025 Electric SUVand is set to grow with further EVs as they come. Volvo EX60 Electric SUV expected to launch around 2026.
Volvo EX90 2025 Powertrain
Volvo’s plug-in hybrid technology is evolving?
But in focusing on the powertrain, Volvo’s recalibrated strategy still means it plans to sell a lot of plug-in hybrids toward that goal and even beyond.
It is replaced with larger battery packs every few years and increased engine power. 18.8 kwh battery pack—today’s triple-layer battery technology—is actually cheaper to manufacture than the previous dual-layer battery technology, according to Annwall, and in the XC90, it can provide 33 miles EPA electric and more powerful electric motor power at a lower cost than the previous generation. “I think we can continue to develop the electrification part of the powertrain, and that is our strategy.”
That said, the system still runs through a traditional eight-speed automatic transmission, just like when Volvo introduced the system a decade ago and electric motor second to internal combustion engines in terms of power output and design. Green Car Reports asked some questions about when and how this system might evolve and received some suggestions.
Recharge Volvo XC90 2024
“The most important thing is to increase internal efficiency even further,” said Erik Severinson, Volvo’s director of new vehicle programs and operational strategy. Today, electric motors are about 90% internally efficient, while internal combustion engines are about 30% internally efficient, but there are room with efficiency over 90%“You will see that growth,” he said.
Severinson says that in the future, PHEVs will be less about the number of cylinders and more about the vehicle’s optimal performance. Volvo has already replaced three-cylinder engines in its smaller plug-in hybrids.
Volvo says that from its own data, on a global average, its plug-in hybrids are driven 50% of their miles are electricand is on the rise.
How much battery capacity and range is enough for a plug-in hybrid? Volvo has run a series of scenarios and conducted customer research to understand how people use their electric range, but Severinson wouldn’t comment on the tipping point. “At some point, the battery gets big, the battery gets heavy, and the cost goes up for PHEVs.”
2025.5 Volvo XC90
2025.5 Volvo XC90
2025.5 Volvo XC90
Severinson said faster charging times could make the size of PHEV batteries less relevant. Although Volvo’s PHEVs in the US right now, including the 2025.5 Volvo XC90still using 3.7kw built-in charger is very slow, low power, not enough to charge at noon.
Bell wouldn’t comment on future technology options for PHEVs—or on making the gas engine secondary to a more range-extending approach—but he said that “we’re very mindful of what technologies are right for us and our customers, and what the benefits are.” He was quick to add that “we need to be able to make sure that whatever product we make, it needs to be a Volvo. It needs to be a good experience, good NVH, good character, reasonable towing capacity, etc.—so that part doesn’t change, but the technology that supports those choices can change.”
