Via Reuters:
Geely-owned Volvo Car Group said on Wednesday all new models launched from 2019 will be fully electric or hybrids, spelling the eventual end to nearly a century of Volvos powered solely by the internal combustion engine.
The Gothenburg-based company will continue to produce pure combustion-engine Volvos from models launched before that date, but said it would introduce cars across its model line-up that ranged from fully electric cars to plug-in hybrids.
Volvo’s plans make it the first major traditional automaker to set a date for the complete phase-out of combustion-engine-only models though electrification has long been a buzzword across the industry and Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors has been a pure-play battery carmaker from day one.
“This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car,” Volvo Cars Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement.
Five new models set to be launched in 2019 through 2021 – three of them Volvos and two Polestar-branded – will all be fully or partially electric.
A Chinese Volvo with no internal combustion engine. What is the world coming to?
Now, bring on that Strayan coal-fired power station.