As just reported on Auto123.com, Volvo is focusing on developing electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the coming years. And lest you thought the company’s Polestar performance models were not part of that equation, the company has just announced otherwise.
Håkan Samuelsson, President and Chairman of the Executive Board at Volvo, confirmed the news to British automotive newsmagazine Autocar. According to the Autocar website, a first glimpse of the first electric Volvo Polestar could be forthcoming before the end of this year, likely a model based on the new 2018 XC60 .
Volvo is convinced that consumers interested in luxury performance cars will in five years be fully expectant of having access to electric powertrains. The automaker is thus undertaking to transition its Polestar lineup from gasoline to electric powertrains, including both plug-in hybrid and all-electric formats, and in doing so will inaugurate new technologies that can then be applied to other Volvo models.
Also reported in Autocar is Håkan Samuelsson’s intention to enter Polestar in the Formula E racing tour to further promote the brand’s new electric focus.
Volvo had previously announced its intention to launch a fully electric model with a range of around 500 km in 2019 (to be assembled in China), and to sell a million electric vehicles by 2025 . The introduction of its new family of compact vehicles – S40, V40 and XC40 – will undoubtedly help in achieving this lofty goal.