Moving to an Electrified Era by 2019
Volvo has worked with electrification for 40 years, and now they are taking that work to its natural conclusion. By 2019, all new models will have an electric or hybrid option. The entire model line-up of vehicles will move into electrification, and between 2019 and 2021, they will launch five pure electric models. All models will be fully electric, plug in hybrids, or mild hybrids where a battery helps a conventional engine achieve greater fuel economy.
About Hybrids:
A hybrid uses a combination of a combustion engine and an electrical engine. The combustion engine is used both to run the vehicle for lack of battery power, but it also recharges the battery, and thereby emissions are reduced. A battery can also be recharged by braking the vehicle (regenerative braking).
- Plug-in Hybrid: Can be plugged into the electrical grid and thereby further reduce the need for use of the gasoline engine.
- Mild Hybrid: Where an electric engine supports the combustion engine to achieve greater fuel economy and reduce emissions.
- Fully Electric: A vehicle that runs entirely on electrical power.
Since electrical engines transfer power in a different way than a combustion engine, they deliver full torque from the start and over a wide RPM range. Therefore, electric vehicles have excellent torque and acceleration compared to traditional engines.
