If you recall, in October 2015, Volvo told us about their plan to introduce a fully electric model in 2019 which was a part of their green strategy which besides that also consist of numerous plug-in hybrids and EVs that are supposed to be completed in some future time. The company also announced, just last month, that the electric car in question will host and boast with very large battery with a capacity of 100 kWh. The downside is that back then they did not disclose any additional info regarding the range.
Thankfully now we have some information which has surfaced recently, thanks to an interview that Lex Kerssemakers, CEO of Volvo Car USA, gave Automotive News at the ongoing 2017 Geneva Motor Show. Lex stated that the electric car in question would be able to travel at least 250 miles (402 kilometers) on a single charge. He also confirmed that it would go on sale in the US and when it does it will be priced somewhere between $35.000 to $40.000.
The electric vehicle we are talking about still doesn’t have an official name, but Volvo said that they are nearing a finished moniker and that it will be finalized later this year. Speculations regarding its name are guessing that there are two options for a name and they are a use of a derivative of an existing nameplate or it getting an entirely different designation which will differentiate it from the rest of company’s lineup members.
Since it is still in early development very few pieces of information are available about this EV. As far as the platform is concerned, it is a safe bet to say that it will ride on either the SPA platform reserved for the “60” and “90” cars or the newly developed CMA destined to be used by the smaller “40” cars. If you do the math, with starting price of just $35,000 the likely candidate for the platform is the compact model platform since a larger SPA-based full electric model would cost more.
There is also a question of body style and competitors because if it wants to be competitive to the Tesla Model 3, for instance, an S40-based sedan or a crossover derived from the upcoming XC40 would probably be a better solution. Since it is still early these are only predictions and guesses, so we will just have to wait and let the time and good company Volvo do their thing.
