According to the Reuters news agency, the Swedish Volvo Cars, 82% owned by the Chinese group Zhejiang Geely Holding, is preparing “to an electric blitz” to convert all its main models to 100% electric.
According to two sources familiar with the matter, Volvo Cars should launch no less than six electric vehicles by 2026. Remember that the Swedish has planned that its entire range will be 100% electric by 2030. Volvo Cars has also sold its gasoline engine and hybrid engine activities at Geely, which brought them together within the Horse project in which it owns 50% of the shares, on an equal footing with Renault.
There roadmap provides three SUVs, two sedans – the well-known S60 and S90 – as well as a minivan or a luxury van. This will be based on the Zeekr 009, a luxury van from the manufacturer Zeekr, owned by Geely and sold exclusively in Asia. This type of vehicle is very popular in the region, as it is an alternative to limousines. With such an electric van, Volvo wants to increase its Asian sales.
This strategy has already started with the EX90, the new electric SUV unveiled in 2022 and based on the SPA2, specially dedicated to electric vehicles. Thereafter should arrive the EX30 (already confirmed), the XC90, XC60, XC40, as well as the sedans S60 and S90. On the other hand, it is not known whether these electrical versions of already existing models will use the SPA2 platform. All these future models are the fruit of the Volvo R&D center in Shanghai which, for the occasion, has tripled its workforce (60 people) and moved to larger premises. Previously, this research and development center was based in Sweden, home of Volvo Cars.
As a reminder, Volvo Cars sold 615,121 cars in 2022, a figure down 12% compared to 2021. Of this total, there are 205,351 electrified vehicles, including 66,749 electric and 138,603 plug-in hybrids or PHEVs. .