Volvo’s push for a fully-electrified range is accelerating as it rolls out mild-hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-electric vehicles.
At one end of the spectrum, its first battery-electric model – the XC40 Recharge Pure Electric – is arriving here in the second quarter of 2021. At the opposite end are its upcoming mild-hybrid models, which won’t be arriving for another 12 months.
In the second half of next year, the company will introduce versions of its S60, V60, XC60 and XC90 models with mild-hybrid systems.
These will feature an integrated starter generator to reduce engine load, with energy generated from braking stored in a 48V battery.
Volvo claims this will boost acceleration and allow for smoother take-offs, while also reducing fuel consumption and emissions by up to 15 per cent.
The company’s Australian operations have yet to announce which mild-hybrid variants will be offered locally.
Volvo has revealed mild-hybrid 2.0-litre turbo petrol and diesel models wearing the name B5, as well as a B4 mild-hybrid diesel and a B6 mild-hybrid petrol. In some markets, Volvo offers B4, B5 and B6 variants of the XC60, while the XC90 offers only the two B5s and B6.
In between now and then, the XC40 Recharge Plug-In Hybrid is arriving in the fourth quarter of this year. It mates a turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder with an electric motor and 10.7kWh lithium-ion battery pack for a total system output of 195kW and an electric-only range of 46km.
The company already offers a plug-in hybrid powertrain in range-topping T8 Twin Engine variants of its S60, V60, XC60 and XC90 lines.
Volvo previously set a goal to have an entirely electrified model range and for 20 per cent of its global sales to be of plug-in hybrid models by 2021.
By 2025, it wants to have 50 per cent of its volume to consist of battery-electric vehicles and the other 50 per cent to be hybrids, with the aim to be entirely climate neutral by 2040.
