XC90 Could Be the Last Internal-Combustion Volvo

Volvo's XC40 Recharge is the leading edge of a full lineup of EVs on the way, some smaller and some bigger, says the CEO.

• The Volvo XC40 Recharge P8 you see above will be the first in a succession of Volvo EVs.
• Both smaller and larger electric models are going to follow, CEO Håkan Samuelsson told Car and Driver.
• The next XC90 will be offered in both hybrid and EV forms, and it could be the last internal-combustion-engined Volvo.

We have only just experienced Volvo’s first EV, the XC40 Recharge P8, but we won’t have to wait long for other pure-electric models from the Swedish brand, as it looks to leapfrog rivals with a plethora of zero-emission vehicles.

Volvo has already said that half the cars it produces as soon as 2025 will be fully electric, a proportion far in excess of what we are expecting from Europe's other premium brands by the same point.

"The premium-car market is going to be the fastest-growing segment in the future, and we would go as far as to say we are convinced the premium segment will be electric in the future," Samuelsson told us in a video interview. "You can speculate how long it will be until all premium cars are electric, but we have drawn the conclusion that if we want to be fast-growing, we should concentrate on that segment. It is much smarter for us than to try and take market share in a shrinking conventional car segment."

Next EV Coming as Early as 2021

Samuelsson said that Volvo is planning to launch multiple new electric models, positioned both above and below the XC40 Recharge. The next will be another car sitting on the same electrified Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) that underpins the XC40 and Polestar 2, which will come next year and which he suggested will be an electric-only model without any combustion option. Beyond that, he confirmed that we will see an electric version of the next-generation XC90, and also that Volvo is going to start making smaller EVs.