Volvo is preparing an electric car with a range of autonomy

Volvo is one of the manufacturers who has best negotiated its turn to the electric car. However, this was not enough to maintain the brand’s goal of abandoning internal combustion engines worldwide from 2030.

Volvo had already stopped the development of new thermal models and we could therefore only hope for changes in current models. However, Volvo today announces the upcoming arrival of a brand new internal combustion engine model. If its development was possible, it is because it is not based on a thermal car architecture, but on that of an electric car. Thus, it is an electric car with a range of autonomy, a very popular technology in China to the point of having attracted more than a million customers in 2024.

This new model, “Slightly larger and more spacious than the Volvo XC60”takes up the name XC70 previously attributed to a adventurous break, but this time in the form of a more traditional family SUV, testify to the few images published by Volvo. It is based on the SMA platform dedicated to electric cars with a range of autonomy, announces 200 km of radius of action in electric mode according to the very optimistic Chinese cycle CLTC and is compatible with a fast load, without precision on its load power or on the rest of its technical sheet. It is unlikely that a 100 % electric version of the model is due to the day, since this role will come back to the next ex60.

First in China and perhaps one day in Europe?

The new XC70 will be launched later this year in China, a market which it aims in priority. “It allows us to maintain and develop a balanced product portfolio, while offering a very attractive alternative to customers who are not yet ready for electric cars. This is also an example of regionalization, where we adapt to the needs of the local market.”explains Håkan Samuelsson, freshly recalled at the head of Volvo.

However, the brand specifies consider a larger marketing in a second step for its electric SUV with an extension of autonomy. In view of the slow growth of electric cars in Europe, Chinese manufacturers are probably numerous to import this solution on the old continent. In April, sales of Volvo electric cars even dropped 32 % worldwide, while those of its rechargeable hybrid models climbed by 2 %, which certainly enters the balance.

Leapmotor tried the experience by marketing its C10 ReEV in Europe in Europe. However, this technology is far from expectations of European customers, fond of dynamism and mechanical approval or, failing that, softness on the electric traction chains. Electricity with a range of autonomy indeed comes back to a serial rechargeable hybrid, where the thermal engine never leads the wheels. If this is easier to implement than a serial-pural hybridization, approval and even battery consumption unloaded there. In addition, the customs duties imposed on electric cars produced in China also affect the models with a range of autonomy. We are therefore closer to the worst of both worlds than for the best.