Volvo unveils its electric vehicle strategy, first all-electric car for 2019

This morning Volvo sent out a press release outlining its plan to introduce more electric vehicles in its lineup. The Swedish automaker plans to introduce plug-in hybrids in all its series of models, including a new compact category, but more importantly, it will bring to market its first all-electric car in 2019.Volvo is going to be a bit late to market for all-electric vehicles, but the announcement is still a welcomed commitment to electric powertrain technologies. Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson said:

“We believe that the time has come for electrified cars to cease being a niche technology and enter the mainstream. We are confident that by 2020, 10 per cent of Volvo’s global sales will be electrified cars.”

You might think that 10% isn’t much, but considering Volvo produced 465,866 cars last year, the company would need to increase its annual production rate of electric vehicles to about 50,000 in the next 5 years to achieve this goal. In comparison, Tesla is expected to produce roughly the same number of cars this year.

Volvo’s electrification strategy appears to have three phases. First the company will equip its 90 and 60 series, which are the company’s larger vehicles, with “Twin Engine All-Wheel Drive plug-in hybrid” drivetrains. Then the carmaker will develop an all new compact 40 series also with a plug-in drivetrain.

And finally the company will launch its first all-electric car in 2019. Volvo didn’t reveal any information about this project, but the company released the image featured above, which they titled “Volvo Cars’ vision of an electric future”, a clear hint at induction charging.