Volvo Going All Electric by 2019, Will End Gas-Only Cars [VIDEO]

In a shocking announcement, Volvo Cars announced today that every Volvo it launches from 2019 will have an electric motor, marking the historic end of cars that only have an internal combustion engine (ICE) and placing electrification at the core of its future business.

While it is no large surprise that more auto manufacturers are moving towards hybrid and electric engines, this particular announcement represents one of the most significant moves by any car maker to completely embrace electrification, abandon combustible engines, and suggest doing this complete transformation in such a short time-frame.

Volvo will introduce a lineup of electrified cars across its model range, including fully electric cars, plug in hybrid cars and mild hybrid cars. It will launch five fully electric cars between 2019 and 2021, three of which will be Volvo models and two of which will be high performance electrified cars from Polestar. These five cars will then be supplemented by a range of petrol and diesel plug in hybrid and mild hybrid 48 volt options on all models.

This news comes on the heels of Volvo's announcement that Polestar will become a separately-branded electrified performance car company. Volvo has also been been showcasing prototypes of electric excavators.

With this transformation, every Volvo car will have an electric motor and pure ICE cars will be gradually phased out and replaced by ICE cars with electrified options, which represents one of the broadest electrified car offerings of any car maker.

“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. This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car. 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.”
- Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive

Volvo's commitment to minimizing its environmental impact can definitely not be questioned. On top of reducing carbon emissions for their products, Volvo also aims to have climate neutral manufacturing operations by 2025.