Volvo’s Last Diesel Car Is Headed Straight To A Museum

Volvo just made its last car with a diesel engine, marking an enormous milestone within the Swedish firm’s march towards electric-only gross sales. 

The car, an XC90 SUV, rolled off the meeting line in Torslanda, Sweden and is headed to a Volvo museum in Gothenburg, Sweden, the place the automaker is headquartered. 

A number of of the world’s automakers have pared again their electrical ambitions in latest months, citing a slowdown in EV demand. Mercedes-Benz, for instance, now goals for 50% of its gross sales to be electrical or hybrid by 2030, 5 years later than it initially deliberate. Regardless of the doom and gloom hanging over the EV market during the last a number of months, the auto business’s zero-emission transition is chugging alongside whenever you take an extended view.

Milestones like Volvo’s present precisely the place issues are heading due to tightening environmental regulations globally and rising client curiosity in EVs. Diesel vehicles took off in Europe, promising decrease greenhouse gasoline emissions than ones powered by gasoline. Nonetheless, diesel sales have steadily declined in recent years as EVs gained traction.

Nearly all of vehicles Volvo bought in Europe in 2019 ran on diesel, the automaker stated. Now, hybrid and absolutely electrical vehicles account for many of its European gross sales. The corporate’s EV gross sales grew by 70% final 12 months. Volvo goals to be an electric-only carmaker by 2030 and grow to be net-zero by 2040. 

These plans are taking form within the U.S. with the assistance of two thrilling new EVs coming this 12 months. The EX30 is a compact SUV beginning at roughly $35,000, cheaper than most EVs. The EX90 will present an electrical different to Volvo’s best-selling XC90 midsize SUV. 

Equally, Dodge lately stated goodbye to its bread-and-butter V8s, turning its focus to electric cars and extra fuel-efficient six-cylinder engines. 

Contact the creator: tim.levin@insideevs.com