Skip to main content

Charge on! Every new Volvo will have an electric motor starting in 2019

Volvo is saying “yes!” to electrification by starting a high-voltage revolution. Beginning in 2019, every new car the Swedish company introduces will come equipped with at least one electric motor. It’s a bold strategy that underlines its commitment to shrinking the size of its carbon footprint.

Buyers in the market for a Volvo around the turn of the decade will have three basic powertrain options to choose from. The first is a brand-new, 48-volt mild hybrid system. It captures the kinetic energy generated while braking, stores it in a compact battery pack, and feeds it to a small motor attached to the side of the internal combustion engine. The motor improves gas mileage and reduces harmful emissions, but it can’t power the car on its own for any significant distance.

Recommended Videos

The midrange option will be a plug-in hybrid called Twin Engine in Volvo-speak. The technology is already offered on bigger Volvo models like the S90 and the XC90, and it will be available on the 2018 XC60 before the end of the year. Currently, plug-in models can drive on electricity alone for about 20 miles. They’ll go further as the technology improves.

Finally, Volvo has pledged to launch no less than five all-electric models between 2019 and 2021. Three of them will join the Volvo lineup, and two of them will be part of Polestar, the brand’s newly established performance division. Henrik Green, Volvo’s vice president of research and development division, told Digital Trends the first pure electric car will be a compact car built on the modular CMA platform. The yet-unnamed model will be made in China and exported to markets all around the globe.

Broadly speaking, automakers are adopting electrification to meet the strict regulations looming in key markets like the United States and China. Volvo explains its decision wasn’t influenced by government regulations. Instead, it’s responding to market demand.

“This is about the customer. People increasingly demand electrified cars and we want to respond to our customers’ current and future needs. You can now pick and choose whichever electrified Volvo you wish,” said company CEO Håkan Samuelsson in a statement.

Volvo has previously stated it aims to sell 1 million electrified cars by 2025. The announcement to electrify its entire portfolio worldwide finally sheds insight into how the company will reach its goal. What will happen to its current, nonelectrified powertrains after 2019 hasn’t been decided yet.

“Existing cars with full [internal combustion] powertrains will be adjusted in the future according to market demands. There is no set timetable for that yet,” a company spokesperson told Digital Trends.

Ronan Glon
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
Cadillac’s Vistiq is a luxury electric SUV for families
2026 Cadillac Vistiq front quarter view.

Cadillac’s electric vehicle rollout got off to a strong start with the Lyriq, but now the General Motors luxury brand is looking to tackle the all-important three-row family SUV segment with the 2026 Vistiq. As with the current gasoline XT6, Cadillac won’t be the first to market. But it hopes to compete with its own distinctive design and tech.

Arriving next year, the 2026 Cadillac Vistiq merges the slab-sided appearance of the XT6 with a new version of the front-end treatment from the Lyriq, which designers nicknamed “The Mandalorian” because of its resemblance to a certain bounty hunter’s helmet. Some tricks were applied to hide the Vistiq’s tall roof, and it has a rear-end treatment inspired by the cult classic Cadillac CTS-V wagon, but this is still a beefy-looking SUV that’s almost Escalade-like in appearance.

Read more
Scout Motors creates connections with its new electric Terra truck and Traveler SUV
Scout Terra and Traveler driving onto the compass-face stage.

Scout Motors invited roughly 300 people to the hills of Franklin, Tennessee, to reveal the Scout Traveler SUV and Terra truck electric concept vehicles. The automaker brought in journalists such as myself, active lifestyle bloggers, YouTubers, automotive industry analysts, and enthusiasts and fans of the original International Harvester Scout.

Scout Motors calls the new, rugged vehicle the Connection Machine. The reveal event aimed to establish a solid connection between the concept EVs and the attendees. The automaker also used the occasion to announce the immediate ability to reserve a Scout vehicle with a $100 fully refundable deposit.
The Scout legend

Read more
Scout Traveler and Scout Terra forge a new path for EVs
Scout Traveler and Scout Terra.

Electric vehicles are inseparable from newness, whether it’s new tech, new designs, or new companies like Rivian, Lucid, and Tesla. But the Volkswagen Group’s new EV-only brand also relies heavily on the past.

Unveiled Thursday, the Scout Traveler electric SUV and Scout Terra electric pickup truck are modern interpretations of the classic International Harvester Scout. Manufactured from 1961 to 1980, the original Scout helped popularize the idea of the rugged, off-road-capable utility vehicle, setting the stage for modern SUVs.

Read more