Car manufacturer will also launch an electric car.
By Raif Karerat
Swedish car manufacturer Volvo, long known for their impressive safety features, is taking a new step to safeguard the longevity of the planet by making every single model it offers a hybrid electric-gas vehicle by 2019.
It also plans to release a fully electric car into its lineup by the same time.
Volvo believes that plug-in hybrid cars offer customers the best combination of efficiency, range, and convenience. Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo, says, “We believe that the time has come for electrified cars to cease being a niche technology and enter the mainstream. We are confident that in two years’ time, 10 per cent of Volvo’s global sales will be electrified cars.”
Can we expect electric cars to dominate the roads in the immediate future? Probably not. CleanTechnica noted that Volvos are essentially luxury vehicles that command a premium price. True mainstream manufacturers like Honda and Toyota are not exactly scrambling to embrace the electric car revolution, stated the “cleantech-focused” website.
However, the momentum for sustainable, electric cars is building, and roads across the world could look at least slightly different sooner than later.
In the meantime, Volvo appears to be ahead of the curve: “With around 40 years of experience in the field of electrification, Volvo has learned a lot about battery management along the way, delivering the best range per kilowatt hour in the industry,” said Dr. Peter Mertens, senior vice president for research and development at Volvo. “We have come to a point where the cost versus benefit calculation for electrification is now almost positive. Battery technology has improved, costs are going down, and public acceptance of electrification is no longer a question,” Mertens added.