Volvo scales back electric vehicle ambitions, eases goal to at least 90% by 2030
Carmaker Volvo has backed away from its pledge to stop selling cars with internal combustion motors by 2030, saying slow rollout of places to charge up and withdrawal of purchase incentives will leave room for a few cars that still need fossil fuels
FRANKFURT, Germany — Sweden-based Volvo Cars has eased off on its pledge to stop selling cars with internal combustion motors by 2030, saying slow rollout of places to charge up and withdrawal of purchase incentives will leave room for a few cars that still need fossil fuels.
Volvo Cars, part of China's Geely Holding, now foresees a model lineup at the end of the decade that's at least 90% electric cars and has widened that to include both battery-only and plug-in hybrids that combine battery power with an internal combustion engine.
On top of that, up to 10% could be a “limited number” of mild hybrids, which mainly run on internal combustion and store electric power from braking in a 48-volt battery to assist acceleration and improve fuel economy.
The company said it was adjusting to “changing market conditions and customer demands.”
“We are resolute in our belief that our future is electric,” CEO Jim Rowan said in a statement Wednesday. “However, it is clear that the transition to electrification will not be linear, and customers and markets are moving at different speeds of adoption.”
The push into electric cars is driven by European limits on emissions that end sales of internal combustion cars by 2035, with a possible exception for those running on carbon-neutral fuels. The regulatory push is part of efforts to meet goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the 2015 Paris accords aimed at combating climate change.
But the uptake of electric cars has hit
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