Volvo says it's done developing gas-powered engines

Khodrocar - At the Volvo V60's reveal, the brand's CEO Håkan Samuelsson and other executives told Road & Track, in a report published last Friday, that its current engines are, indeed, the end of the road. There are no future budget allocations for gas-powered engines, but that's not to say its current engines won't continue to serve a purpose. Volvo's plan to electrify every one of its models introduced in 2019 and later will still include plenty of hybrids and plug-in hybrids.

The brand's current engines, its single- and twin-charged 2.0-liter 4-cylinders, will be augmented with more-powerful electric motors, according to the report. Future models may also boast rear-biased all-wheel-drive systems, thanks to the electric motors. Electric turbochargers are also a possibility, but the future rests on how much power the electric motors can make.

Eventually, Volvo will follow the Polestar brand into an all-electric future. Polestar's first model, the 1 performance coupe, is a hybrid but future vehicles will be purely electric. Polestar plans for more models following the coupe's launch, including a Polestar 2 electric sedan and a Polestar 3 electric SUV. A fourth model could be a convertible.

At Volvo, niche segments will be largely ignored. The brand plans to keep its focus on sedans, crossover SUVs, and wagons, per executives. However, we may see a coupe-like SUV next decade.

Source: Motor Authority