Six new electric Volvos will debut by 2026

An illustration of an EV skateboard chassis — Enlarge / Modular architectures like SPA2 mean Volvo can build lots of different models using the same toolkit.

In 2017 Volvo marked itself as something of a pioneer in the auto industry when then-CEO Hakan Samuelsson announced that the company would focus on electrification in the coming years, with a goal of selling a million electrified cars by 2025. It’s not doing too badly in that regard—already in 2021 a quarter of its sales were plug-in hybrids or battery-electric vehicles, and that grew to one in three during 2022.

But there’s plenty more to come. Today, Reuters reported that Volvo currently has six new EVs in development to go on sale by 2026.

We’ve already seen the first of these unveiled—the EX90 SUV. This will use Volvo’s new SPA2 architecture, to be built in South Carolina from next year, and features an advanced suite of sensors, including roof-mounted lidar.

According to Reuters, the XC90 will be followed by EV replacements for the S60 and S90 sedans and the XC40 and XC60 SUVs. (Reuters also writes that there’s an EV version of the XC90 SUV coming as well, but I confess that last one confuses me as I am pretty sure that’s the EX90.)

The sixth model will be a Volvo van based on the Zeekr 009, an imposing electric brick-on-wheels that’s only sold in China. Reuters says that development for the van, as well as the electric sedans, has moved to its Shanghai R&D center as opposed to its base in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Volvo says that by 2030 it will be a purely electric car brand.

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1914378