Volvo Wants to Ditch the Internal Combustion Engine by 2030

Back in 2017, Volvo claimed their portfolio would be fully “electrified” by 2019. A year later, they said half of their cars would be electric come 2024. Confused yet? No? Howzabout this – the Swedish automaker just announced that they’d be a fully electric brand by 2030.

Volvo’s original pronouncement came with several caveats – namely, that their “electrified” lineup would include hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and petrol and diesel plug in hybrid and “mild hybrid” 48 volt options.

By 2018, they pivoted slightly, claiming that half their vehicles would be 100% electric by 2024. Their latest decree asserts that no Volvo will have an internal combustion engine by the end of the decade.

That’s kinda a big deal.

A number of automakers have made grand predictions that include the word “electric,” but each proclamation includes some fine print (even if it’s hidden in plain sight).

Aston Martin vowed to go fully hybrid-electric by the mid-2020s, meaning that the internal combustion engine would live on in some capacity. And that’s basically what Volvo meant four years ago.

But Volvo’s new edict leaves no room for ambiguity – the company said it "intends to only sell fully electric cars and phase out any car in its global portfolio with an internal combustion engine, including hybrids." And that’s not all.

Hidden amongst the electric decree was this little bombshell – Volvo wants to sell their future lineup exclusively online. Dealers, who’ve already chafed under a catastrophic year where people stayed inside for months at a time, are sure to love that little nugget.

"Volvo Cars will invest heavily in its online sales channels, radically reduce complexity in its product offer, and with transparent and set pricing models," they said, and they also want to (somehow) integrate in-person and online buying.

Sounds like gargantuan layoffs – at the dealer- and/or company-level – are on the agenda this decade.

Read more here.