Volvo has set a rather ambitious goal which is to have an all-electric car share of 50% of their total sales volume and make it 100% by 2030.
Though the goal is challenging taking into consideration that, Volvo now provides just one all-electric vehicle, the Volvo XC40 Recharge, which will be joined by the new Volvo C40 Recharge variant in the near future. But despite that, things are in Volvo’s favor. In terms of plug-in electric vehicle sales, the Recharge subbrand accounts for 24.6 %t of the overall result in the first six months and that’s more than 93,600 units (up almost 150 % year-over-year).
The Swedish automaker reported a growth of 11% year over year in June, and that the first half of the year was the best ever, with 380,757 vehicles sold (up 41% year-over-year)
Before we move on further let us take a glance at Recharge.
Recharge: Volvos Subbrand for EVs
Volvo Recharge refers to the premium automaker’s electric and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) car portfolio (EV). Volvo coined the term when it unveiled the new 2021 XC40 Recharge electric SUV, and it’s now being used to describe its whole range of plug-in hybrids. Recharge is different from Polestar, which Volvo is utilizing to distinguish performance-tuned plug-in hybrids (Polestar Engineered) and create a new high-end electric car line (Polestar).
The company is trying to redefine itself through the recharging campaign.
Making Waves Around The Globe
In California, the Recharge subbrand had a record share of 51.1% of total volume, indicating that plug-ins accounted for the bulk of sales. Also astonishingly, Recharge models accounted for 100% of Volvo sales in Brazil.
“Last month we hit an exciting milestone in our journey to transform Volvo Cars into a pure electric premium car company by 2030, with Recharge models representing more than half of our sales mix in California. With over a full year of consecutive sales growth at Volvo Car USA, we remain confident that our strategy for the future is the right one.”
-Anders Gustafsson, Senior Vice President, Volvo Car Americas and President and CEO, Volvo Car USA
It is safe to guess that, Volvo sold about 7,000 plugs-in in Q2, while the year-to-date might be up to around 10,000.
Remember that the company wants to reach a 50 % all-electric car share by 2025 (600,000 units out of 1.2 million total) and a 100 % share by 2030. Volvo now provides just one all-electric vehicle, the Volvo XC40 Recharge, which will be joined by the new Volvo C40 Recharge variant in the near future.
Conclusion
All we’ve seen thus far is only the beginning of Volvo’s transition to an all-electric brand. The actual increase of BEV sales, however, will come a little later, when Volvo introduces its second generation of electric vehicles, beginning with the successors to the XC90 and XC60 SUVs.
The recently unveiled Volvo Concept Recharge has offered us a peek of what luxury EVs may look like in the future and the future looks promising. Volvo plans to focus on greater range and faster charging this decade, allowing it to transition to an all-electric portfolio gradually.
