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Volvo planning an electric sedan prototype perhaps called ES90

The Automotive News future product pipeline indicates Volvo's planning to begin production of an electric version of the S90 sedan in late 2024, with sales to begin in 2025. The car is definitely coming, and could be here on the early side. Swedish outlet Teknikens Varld (translated) got eyes on a post from Volvo's internal website celebrating the completion of a verification prototype (VP) of a car internally called the V551, publicly expected to be the ES90. Workers at Geely's Cixi Assembly Plant south of Shanghai marked the arrival of the car in a photo under a banner reading, "Volvo Cars V551 First VP Car Celebration," in front of a vehicle covered by a tarp stamped with "Confidential Top Secret." We don't know the production model will be called ES90, but the naming scheme fits if using the EX90 as a guide. Volvo applied to trademark the name, the potential hitch being that Lexus has indicated its displeasure with Volvo putting an ES model on the market since Lexus has its long-lived ES-followed-by-a-number sedan.     Volvo documents leaked online last year point to a body sized between the short- and long-wheelbase versions of the gas-powered S90 (pictured above), sitting on the same SPA2 platform as the recently introduced EX90. Dimensions come in at 196.4 inches long, 76.6 inches wide, and 60.9 inches high on a 122-inch wheelbase. This would make it four inches shorter than the current S90 long-wheelbase, the only version sold anymore, 1.7 inches wider, and 3.2 inches taller, with a wheelbase 1.5 inches longer. If this is how it turns out for production, the ES90 will be 1.5 inches shorter than the EX90 but have a wheelbase 2.5 inches longer — a chauffeur special for the Chinese market, perhaps. A 111-kWh battery pack (107 kWh usable) would be the same spec that powers the EX90, the ES90 in rear-drive trim expected to be good for nearly 600 kilometers (373 miles) on China's CLTC vehicle regimen. We need clarity on other rumored specs like a powertrain making 455 horsepower and 523 pound-feet, a curb weight of 5,511 pounds for an RWD trim and 5,732 pounds for dual-motor AWD.

Volvo might join the tide of automakers turning to hybrids and PHEVs

Volvo had been the clearest and most direct of all automakers about switching to a purely electric lineup.  Less than a year after getting the XC40 Recharge to market, on March 2, 2021, the company wrote that it "intends to only sell fully electric cars and phase out any car in its global portfolio with an internal combustion engine, including hybrids." Two years later, with the C40 on dealer lots and the EX90 and EX30 in the pipeline, CFO Bjorn Annwall removed the wiggle room of "intends" by pledging Volvo won't "sell a single car" that isn't purely electric after after 2030, emphasizing the target to Automotive News with, "There's no ifs, no buts." Problem is, there are always ifs and buts, and Volvo might be the next automaker needing a tactical retreat to deal with them. After speaking to members of Volvo's U.S. dealer body, Automotive News reports a softening of the 2030 target. The most Volvo has said publicly came from CEO Jim Rowan, who told analysts during a recent investor webcast that because the EV transformation is going to take time to scale, hybrid powertrains could "form a solid bridge for our customers that are not ready to move to full electrification." According to AN, an anonymous insider said plug-in hybrids could take the lead for the next 10 years as global governments and global markets align on electric vehicles. If this turns out to be the case, Volvo would join a strengthening trend as automakers rush to develop hybrids and PHEVs to launch in the next three years.   Volvo would also be well positioned for the turn, considering buyer sentiment to the hybrids and PHEVs it's sold for many years now. The SPA1 platform supporting every Volvo with an internal combustion engine remains sound. Given development dollars and improvements in battery technology, there's no reason Volvo couldn't ride an evolution of the architecture into the next decade, and it can also take advantage of platforms and toolkits from parent company Geely. Only a year ago, Geely and Renault agreed on a joint venture to invest 7 billion euros for researching new technologies to make non-hybrid and hybrid gas engines more efficient.  This is clearly what U.S. dealers want based on their comments to AN, one retailer going so far as to say, "We will have to [stick with hybrids], or we will die."  Short term, Volvo's enduring the same pain felt by other automakers.

Daimler and Volvo plan hydrogen fuel cell truck production in 2025

LONDON — Daimler's truck unit and Volvo said on Thursday they would start making hydrogen fuel cells in Europe in 2025 via a joint venture, and called for EU policies to help make the zero-emission technology commercially viable. The rival German and Swedish makers of large freight-hauling trucks formed their venture, Cellcentric, in March. They said they would provide more details on large-scale fuel production in 2022, but said Cellcentric was already scaling up prototype output. "Partnerships like Cellcentric are vital to our commitment to decarbonizing road transport," Volvo Chief Executive Martin Lundstedt said in a statement. Aside from the fuel-cell joint venture, the two companies remain competitors. Both hope to test fuel-cell trucks in about three years and start mass producing trucks in the second half of this decade. The European Union has been pushing tighter emission standards, fueling a boom in zero-emission electric cars. But batteries in electric vehicles are very heavy, and hydrogen fuel cells are seen as a potentially more viable zero-emission power systems for long-haul freight in the future. Fuel cells produce electricity from hydrogen, emitting only water. The two truck makers called for the construction of around 300 hydrogen refueling stations suitable for heavy-duty vehicles in Europe by 2025 and about 1,000 stations by 2030. During a video conference with the two firms, European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean said the commission would this summer propose a revised alternative fuels directive. She said this "will include binding requirements for rolling out hydrogen fueling infrastructure ... and financial support will be available where needed." Automaker Stellantis said this year it would begin deliveries in Europe of its first medium-sized vans powered by hydrogen fuel cells by the end of 2021. Stellantis said at the time that Germany had 90 hydrogen stations and France had 25 — a tiny fraction of the thousands of petrol stations available for fossil-fuel vehicles today. As zero-emission trucks are significantly more expensive than fossil-fuel models, Daimler and Volvo said a "policy framework is needed to ensure demand and affordability." The two companies said policies should include subsidies for "CO2-neutral technologies and a taxation system based on carbon and energy content." Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.