No Reserve!! Project / Needs Top / Low Miles / 2 Owner Clean Title Florida Car! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Volvo still undecided on offering plug-in hybrid versions of all models

The automotive world is only a few months away from getting its first real glimpse at Volvo's big gamble with the unveiling of the next-generation XC90 (pictured above as the Concept XC Coupe). We're already getting a preview of the revolutionary upgrades with the introduction of the Swede's Volvo Engine Architecture family into some of its 2015 models, like the recently driven S60. These changes are just the start, though. The real magic could be in the powertrains.
Dean Shaw, Volvo Cars North America vice president of corporate communications hinted to Autoblog a few months ago that every model sold in the US could come in a plug-in hybrid variant, starting with the new XC90. Despite confirmation rumors that this has now come to pass, Shaw told AutoblogGreen that the only thing Volvo is confirming right now is that the platform is capable of that. "We haven't confirmed that all US Volvos would be available with PHEV," he said.
Shaw did confirm that that XC90 will come with a gas and plug-in hybrid powertrain that offers "around 400 horsepower." According to Plugin Cars, the new XC90 will be unveiled in August and will make its public debut at an as-yet-unnamed auto show in the fall. Also, sometime during the 2016 model year, a plug-in hybrid variant will be added to its lineup.

Volvo EX30 U.S. arrival delayed until at least next year

Despite an aggressive campaign ongoing for more than a year to market Volvo’s compact all-electric SUV in the United States, the Swedish-based company said today that it will delay introduction of the EX30 until next year. Russell Datz, a Volvo spokesman, said in an email that the on-sale date of the EX30 is “due to changes in the global automotive landscape.” Datz also attributed the delay to a “ramp up of production at our plant in Ghent, Belgium, with a 2025 target delivery date to be announced.Â’Â’ Volvo though its own channels began taking pre-orders for the 2025 EX30 after it was introduced formally just year ago; the anticipated U.S. price was announced at that time as starting at $36,145, including an $1,195 destination charge Datz added that Volvo “will offer customers with existing preorders several options to drive a new Volvo until their EX30 arrives.Â’Â’ No specifics about that, so stay tuned. “Importantly, we remain committed to bringing EX30 to the US and are working hard to get it into customer hands,” he said. It “remains a cornerstone of Volvo CarsÂ’ ongoing strategic transformation and reflects our ambition to build cars where we sell them as much as possible.” The EX30 is now sold in European markets. During a conference call with dealers today, Volvo executives suggested that the move to shift assembly to Belgium and away from China was an effect of the “geopolitical” situation. Reading between the lines, one might assume that recent moves by the Biden administration to impose high tariffs on cars imported here from China mightÂ’ve motivated the shift. Deliveries of the EX30 to the States was first expected earlier this year. Volvo said it would be offered with two powertrain options, both of which rely on a 69-kilowatt-hour cobalt-lithium-manganese-nickel composite battery, 64 kWh of which is usable. The base model, called Single Motor Extended Range, will have a rear-wheel-drive layout and produce 268 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque. Volvo expects this version to have a range of 275 miles on the U.S. EPA test cycle.

IIHS says these are the safest cars of 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its annual list of Top Safety Picks, an award that highlights automobiles it says offer "superior crash protection." A new and still more significant award, the Top Safety Pick+ honor, is given to those vehicles that earn good ratings for occupant protection in four out of five areas of measure. And while some 117 vehicles were given the TSP seal of approval for 2013, just 13 passed muster for TSP+.
To be fair, IIHS only evaluated 29 vehicles with its new testing procedures for TSP+ (we'd expect that the number of qualified cars will rise substantially for 2014). Luxury and Near Luxury midsize cars were the first groups evaluated, followed by midsizers in the Moderately Priced Cars category - unsurprisingly, it's only midsize cars that you'll find among the class this year.
Only two luxury sedans made the list of 13 for 2013: the Acura TL and Volvo S60. The other 11 cars on the list included entries from domestic, Japanese and German car makers: Dodge Avenger, Chrysler 200, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord (sedan and coupe), Kia Optima (but not its close kin, the Hyundai Sonata, strangely), Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Suzuki Kizashi and the Volkswagen Passat all made the grade.