Swedish automaker Volvo Cars announced Tuesday all of its vehicles will be “fully electric” by the year 2030.
“We plan to become a fully electric premium car maker by 2030,” the automaker said in a statement. “By that date, we intend to be a leader in that market segment and aim to have phased out cars with an internal combustion engine from our line-up — including hybrids.”
Volvo’s chief technology officer Henrik Green said there is “no long-term future for cars with an internal combustion engine” and cited “fighting climate change” as part of the decision to shift towards electric vehicles. The statement added that Volvo aims to become a “climate neutral company” by 2040.
Climate change is the ultimate safety test. That’s why we’re changing to all-electric. Starting today.#ForEveryonesSafety
Learn more https://t.co/jGJNR1qrU3 pic.twitter.com/oa2Fi9Ey3p
— Volvo Car USA (@VolvoCarUSA) March 2, 2021
The automaker also noted in its announcement that all of its electric vehicles will be sold exclusively online, but in-person dealerships would “remain a crucial part of the customer experience.” Volvo also aims for 50% of global sales to be electric vehicles by 2025, with the remaining half made up of hybrids.
As part of the announcement, Volvo unveiled a new fully electric car dubbed the C40 Recharge. It is the second fully electric vehicle the automaker has produced, a follow-up to the XC40 Recharge introduced last year.
Volvo is the latest major automotive firm to announce a timeline for electric vehicles. General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker, said in late January it plans to go all electric by 2040. Luxury car brand Jaguar announced in February an even more ambitious deadline of 2025.
About 2.5 million electric vehicles were sold worldwide in 2020, and forecasts project that number could increase by 70% this year, the Associated Press reported. But electric vehicles accounted for less than 2% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. last year. (RELATED: Elon Musk’s Tesla Made Record Deliveries In 2020 Despite Global Car Demand Slump)
Volvo — owned by the Chinese company Geely Holding Group since 2010 — said in a January press release it sold 661,713 cars worldwide in 2020. Analytics firm Autodata Corporation found 107,626 of those cars were sold in the U.S., the Associated Press reported.