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Driveable Volvo V70 wagon built from 400,000 Lego pieces

We've seen life-size Lego vehicles before, but a Swedish man has created the ultimate brick-built car. That's because David Gustafsson's 1:1 scale Volvo wagon actually drives. Volvo recently shared some photos from the Ecar Expo in Gothenburg, Sweden, where the Lego car was on display. One would think that to undertake such a project it would be easiest to re-create an older Volvo, like a 240 or 740 wagon. After all, those were so boxy they earned the nickname Turbo Bricks as a term of endearment from enthusiasts. Instead, Gustafsson chose to replicate his own V70 wagon, a third-generation model built from 2008-16, which has no shortage of complex curves to replicate. Most life-size Lego replicas are static displays, never meant to move. Most don't even have interiors. Gustafsson's Volvo, on the other hand, not only features a full interior, but has doors that swing open, a gear selector that clicks into various positions, and climate control knobs that turn.  The fun doesn't end there. The Lego V70 has side mirrors that pivot, just like the real thing, as well as active headlights that swivel along with the front wheels when the steering wheel turns. The piece de resistance is the fact that this Volvo actually drives, thanks to an electric motor and battery pack. Speeds must be kept low, of course, but it can start, move, steer and brake via a remote control. The Volvo's only non-Lego parts are the wheels and tires, powertrain and a metal frame. It took Gustafsson over a year and over 400,000 pieces to build the car. He was a winner of the Lego Masters competition in 2020, through which he won the majority of the pieces. According to Klyker, the combined weight of the bricks tipped the scales at 1.2 tons, but the win gave Gustafsson the ability to fulfill a lifelong dream of building a full-size car out of Lego. With the help of Volvo Cars, Gustafsson's re-creation will soon begin a tour across Sweden. It will visit various events across the country from February 22 to August 4.

Volvo to go all electric by 2030, hastening internal combustion's death

LONDON — VolvoÂ’s entire car lineup will be fully electric by 2030, the Chinese-owned Swedish company said on Tuesday, joining a growing number of carmakers planning to phase out fossil-fuel engines by the end of this decade.   “I am totally convinced there will be no customers who really want to stay with a petrol engine,” Volvo Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson told reporters when asked about future demand for electric vehicles. “We are convinced that an electric car is more attractive for customers.” The Swedish carmaker said 50% of its global sales should be fully-electric cars by 2025 and the other half hybrid models. Owned by Hangzhou-based Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Volvo will launch a new family of electric cars in the next few years, all of which will be sold online only. Volvo will unveil its second all-electric model, the C40, later on Tuesday. Samuelsson said Volvo will include wireless upgrades and fixes for its new electric models — an approach pioneered by electric carmaker Tesla Inc. Carmakers are racing to switch to zero-emission models as they face CO2 emissions targets in Europe and China, plus looming bans in some countries on fossil fuel vehicles. Last month, Ford said its lineup in Europe will be fully electric by 2030, while Tata Motors unit Jaguar Land Rover said its luxury Jaguar brand will be entirely electric by 2025 and the carmaker will launch electric models of its entire lineup by 2030. And last November, luxury carmaker Bentley, owned by GermanyÂ’s Volkswagen, said its models would be all electric by 2030. Electrification is expensive for carmakers, and as electric vehicles have fewer moving parts, auto employment is expected to shrink.    Volvo CEO Samuelsson said that industrywide, electrification will mostly affect engine plants and auto suppliers providing everything from oil filters to fuel injectors and spark plugs. “Those are a lot of jobs of course,” he said. “But overall I donÂ’t think there will be a big difference.” Volvo said it will “radically reduce” the complexity of its model line-up and provide customers with transparent pricing. The carmakerÂ’s global network of 2,400 traditional bricks-and-mortar dealers will remain open to service vehicles and to help customers make online orders.

New Lotus SUV could be based on Volvo architecture

Last year, Chinese carmaker Geely upped its stake in Lotus to a majority, recently investing more money into the British brand. Now, talking with Automotive News, CEO Jean-Marc Gales says Geely has approved three new models: two sports cars and the third an SUV. The sports cars will be announced later this year, and they will reach production in 2020. The last time a properly new Lotus debuted was in 2009 with the Evora, so a decade later new products are certainly due. But what about that SUV? Autocar says that since Geely also owns Volvo, that makes it possible for Lotus to base the SUV onto the Volvo SPA platform, which is also used in the XC60 and XC90. The choice of platform would mean the SUV would have to be a four-cylinder model, but that's nothing new to Lotus. It could even use Volvo's "Twin Engine" hybrid setup, which would mean a power output of over 400 horsepower as stock, and that with Lotus' eagerness for lightness could be a potent combination. Autocar quotes Gales as saying, "It will go round bends like nothing else in its segment." The target weight for the approximately Porsche Macan-sized SUV is under 2,000 kilos (4,400 pounds), and the Macan weighs 4244 pounds in 400-hp Turbo guise. The Lotus SUV is projected to hit the market in "about four years," and it's very likely to be built in China instead of Britain, as the Chinese market is very enticing — especially for this class of vehicle. The vehicles will still be designed at Lotus' Hethel HQ. Related Video: