Swedish carmaker Volvo on Tuesday announced that it will transition its entire model lineup to fully electric by 2030. The company also plans to reveal its second fully-electric model, the XC40 Recharge EV, which will only be available online for sale.
"We have seen a lot of fast changes in a very, very short period," Anders Gustafsson, president and CEO of Volvo Car USA, told Cheddar. "We know what our customers are asking for."
Volvo's EV commitment came on the heels of fellow carmakers Jaguar and General Motors announcing plans in recent months to go fully electric by 2025 and 2035 respectively.
"This is not just a Volvo thing. This is an industry thing, but we are aiming to be a little bit faster than our competitors," Gustafsson said.
The transition will happen in stages, however, with Volvo planning to replace at least 50 percent of its fleet by 2025, as consumer expectations shift away from gas-powered vehicles.
“I am totally convinced there will be no customers who really want to stay with a petrol engine,” Volvo Chief Executive Håkan Samuelsson told reporters. “We are convinced that an electric car is more attractive for customers.”
Gustafsson added that he anticipates greater U.S. government support for the EV industry in the coming months and years and that local electric charging partners will be crucial.
"We have always been very, very bullish with our views and ideas about the market, and we have been extremely lucky in our view of looking at the future," Gustafsson said.
Volvo's goal, however, is hardly a gamble. Many countries have already rolled out hard deadlines for banning fossil fuel-powered vehicles. The United Kingdom, for instance, plans to ban all non-zero emission cars by 2030.
Volvo's decision to accelerate its timeline for transitioning to electric stemmed from strong sales of its first fully EV model, the XC40 Recharge P8.
Updated March 2, 2021 at 12:42 pm ET to correct and clarify that Volvo is a Swedish automaker.
