Volvo announced ambitious plans to unveil an all-electric sedan in 2019 in a bid to combat Tesla. The new sedan from Volvo is expected to feature a 300-mile driving range and deliver great performance.
The new sedan is part of a long-term strategy of Volvo to electrify its entire range of vehicles by 2020. All models will be available in a hybrid plug-in option including the V40 hatchback that is due for release in 2017.
One of the first to join Volvo’s existing V60 hybrid plug-in model would be the Volvo XC90 T8 Twin-Engine which would combine an electric motor with a 2L 4-cylinder petrol engine. The combined output, peak torque and fuel economy of this vehicle are estimated to be 401 hp, 472 pound-feet and 134.5 miles per gallon respectively. Another S90 model very similar to the XC90 is also expected to follow suit.
However, car experts believe that the imminent Tesla rival would be the most significant release from Volvo’s paddock. The all-electric saloon is to be constructed on Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) and would be similar in size to the present S90 and Tesla Model 3 that is expected to be out in 2017.
Volvo claims that the electric saloon would deliver a driving range of 300 miles per charge. The company claims that as per the already existing research reports, Twin-Engine drivers achieve 50% of their mileage on electric power.
Volvo asserts that in addition to the driving range, its upcoming all-electric sedan would match Tesla’s performances too. Employing the SPA gives Volvo the leverage to use the all-electric drivetrain in its XC60 too which could then be an effective rival for the recently released crossover, the Tesla Model X.
President and CEO of Volvo Cars, Hakan Samuelsson, said, ‘We believe that the time has come for electrified cars to cease being a niche technology’. The CEO opines that in about 2 years, nearly a tenth of Volvo’s sales globally would consist of partly or fully electrified vehicles.
Considering the fact that Volvo has strategized to enhance annual sales from 500,000 units in 2015 to 800,000 units by 2020, nearly 80,000 electric and/or hybrid plug-in versions are estimated to be sold each year.
Although Tesla sells smaller number of vehicles when compared to some of the bigger automakers, its focus on autonomous driving and electrification has made it a name to reckon with in the EV market. If the Swedish automaker is successful in manufacturing similar powered electrified vehicles, Tesla could meet with an effective rival.
