Volvo Plans To Launch More Plug-in Hybrids And Even An Electric Vehicle

After a few very quiet years, Volvo is currently working hard to market a variety of new models, in addition to establishing an electrification plan for its product line-up.

More precisely, Volvo will offer a plug-in hybrid version of each of its models in the near future, and by 2019, the Swedish manufacturer will even launch a fully electric vehicle.

After creating the SPA (Scalable Product Architecture) platform, on which the newly redesigned 2016 Volvo XC90 is built, an all-new platform is said to be under development. Called CMA for Compact Modular Architecture, it will serve as the basis for the brand’s future small vehicles, including 40 series cars and a crossover. These two platforms will be used for every one of the brand’s products.

In both cases, they’ve been engineered from scratch to accept conventional engines as well as plug-in hybrid powertrains. One of those can already be found in the XC90: the T8 Twin Engine system includes a turbocharged and supercharged 2.0L four-cylinder engine as well as an electric motor for a combined output of 400 horsepower and an average consumption of 2.1 L/100km.

The T8 Twin Engine system should find its way into other models, such as the upcoming S90 large sedan (a replacement for the aging S80), as well as the next S60, V60 and XC60 models. The new compact vehicles built on the front-drive CMA platform, the first of which will be unveiled in 2017, will also benefit from a plug-in hybrid system among its choice of powertrains.

Within a few years, Volvo expects their electrified vehicles to account for 10% of their total sales.

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