Volvo

The Electrification Coalition delivered a letter to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Wednesday, backed by 58 businesses, including Rivian, Volvo, EVgo, and Arrival, to name a few. The letter urges the governor to join the Multi-State Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Memorandum of Understanding, which would expedite the electrification of trucks and buses throughout the state.

The “long-term” partnership announced today is between Volvo Autonomous Solutions and self-driving startup Aurora. The two plan to jointly develop globally-leading autonomous transport solutions at scale, beginning with North America.

Auto manufacturer Geely plans to launch a new premium EV brand called Zeekr in China. Zeekr will exist as a separate brand and marketing strategy under the Geely umbrella. The automaker reportedly hopes to develop premium vehicles like Mercedes-Benz to compete with the likes of Tesla.

We got a limited look at the Volvo C40 Recharge today at the Volvo Cars Manhattan showroom. That’s where the single US C40 currently is residing before its trip to Boston this weekend. Here are our first thoughts.

Volvo is today unveiling the C40 Recharge electric SUV, the Swedish automaker’s second all-electric vehicle and the first built from the ground up to be electric.

The Swedish automaker Volvo announced today its plan to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles, including hybrids, and only sell all-electric cars by the end of the decade.

EV automaker Polestar is now allowing prospective customers to book test drives of its Polestar 2 electric fastback. Its website now lets consumers arrange a visit to a retail location near them. Additionally, the company can also bring the Polestar 2 to your home or office, depending on where you’re located. So far, Polestar has a small retail presence in select US cities compared to other EV automakers.

Volvo has now confirmed the price of the XC40 Recharge, the electric version of Volvo’s best-selling small SUV, and it shows the problem with automakers launching electric versions of existing cars.

Polestar is a bit of an enigma as far as auto companies are concerned. The company, which is a joint venture between Geely and Volvo (which, in turn, is also owned by Geely), operates independently on some fronts from either Geely or Volvo in order to remain nimble. But it also leans heavily on its incestuous parents for infrastructure, talent, and support. I spoke to its North American head, Gregor Hembrough, who incidentally came from two decades previous at Volvo in 2018, to find out why.

Today, Volvo started production of its highly-anticipated XC40 Recharge electric SUV, the first fully electric vehicle from the Swedish brand.

A Tesla Model Y has been registered in Sweden, a year ahead of the launch of the electric SUV in Europe, as Volvo imports the vehicle. It’s likely looking to reverse engineer it.
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Waymo and Volvo this week announced an exclusive partnership to build a new self-driving electric vehicle for use in a ride-hailing service. Few details were provided other than the goal of working together to develop a Level 4 vehicle capable of autonomy in a wide range of locations and road conditions.

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Volvo is looking more like a serious contender for EV leadership. Its executives are taking the right stance on legislation, battery supply, and a swift transition to electric cars. And a new video walkaround of the XC40 Recharge, its first of many EVs, reveals a highly capable and handsome electric crossover.

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Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson said that the coronavirus will accelerate the pace of change in the auto industry. He said the shift to EVs will be among the major changes that occur due to the pandemic. 

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The electric Volvo XC40 Recharge crossover goes on sale in the US later this year. Now we’re learning that the all-electric Volvo XC100, a full-size SUV, will follow – although perhaps not until late 2023.

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The Volvo brand is all about safety. Today the company announced that it will equip its next-generation vehicles with lidar, an expensive sensor that has almost entirely been reserved for fleet-based robotaxis — not passenger cars. Tesla rejected lidar entirely. But Volvo believes lidar’s robust capabilities can be applied to millions of vehicles for hands-off highway driving.

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The economic downturn due to the pandemic is causing automakers to delay launches and slash R&D projects. Volvo’s CEO Hakan Samuelsson said that his company, like others, is searching for where to cut budgets. But expenses related to the company’s efforts on EVs, as well as self-driving tech, will not be touched.

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Donald Trump last week gutted fuel economy standards, a direct attack on electric vehicles. The move further separates federal emissions standards from California’s strong zero-emission rules. Thank goodness, BMW, Ford, Honda, and Volkswagen sided with California by striking individual deals with the state for higher efficiency. Now Volvo joins those four automakers by directly negotiating with California about emissions.

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Volvo last week formally inaugurated a brand-new EV battery assembly line at its Belgian manufacturing plant in Ghent. That’s where it will start building the XC40 Recharge, its first pure electric car, later this year.

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After weeks of teasing, Volvo has now unveiled the all-electric version of its XC40 SUV, the Volvo XC40 Recharge.

The electric SUV is equipped with a dual-motor powertrain, a range of ‘over 250 miles (400 km)’, and more.
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Ahead of the launch of the electric version of the XC40 later today, Volvo announced the launch of its new “Recharge” brand for its electric vehicles and a plan to reduce emissions across the board.
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