It is over between Volvo and diesel engines. Final September, at Local weather Week NYC, the Swedish carmaker mentioned it was breaking apart with Rudolph Diesel’s widespread, globetrotting invention. Earlier this month, the Volvo plant in Torslanda, Sweden, despatched the penultimate diesel-powered XC90 into the world. Then got here the ender, the final of its variety: A blue XC90 produced at Volvo’s Ghent, Belgium, plant using a twin-turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder delicate hybrid making 235 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque. Simply as with the last-of-its-kind Audi R8 that just lately emerged from Audi’s Bollinger Hofe facility, the XC90 is headed to a particular project, the World of Volvo museum, occasion and convention house slated to open April 14 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Contemplating auto improvement timelines, Volvo virtually stop diesel cold-turkey. In 2008, greater than 90% of XC90s bought in Europe left seller heaps with diesel engines. In 2012, the carmaker put the world’s first diesel hybrid available on the market, the V60 D6 wagon. 5 years in the past, diesels nonetheless accounted for greater than half of Volvo’s European gross sales, the bread-and-butter powertrain throughout the mannequin lineups. In line with Autocar, diesels nonetheless energy 40% of the premium vehicles bought in Europe right now, which means Volvo’s strolling away from cash on the desk. It is doing so with out remorse, although, saying, “The all-electric path we’re now heading in the direction of is the correct one to take, and we achieve this with our flag held excessive.”
After delaying the launch of the XC90’s electrical substitute, the EX90, over software program points, the timeline for U.S. patrons nonetheless seems to be manufacturing within the first half of this yr in Ridgeville, South Carolina, deliveries starting in Q3. The usual dual-motor drivetrain making 402 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque begins at $77,990 after vacation spot; the efficiency model of the identical drivetrain making 496 horsepower and 671 pound-feet of torque begins at $82,990.
Automotive Information‘ Future Product Pipeline says we’ll see refreshes for the EX40 and EC40 this yr, and in 2025, a brand new all-electric S90 sedan that may be referred to as the ES90, and an electrical midsizer to interchange the volume-selling XC60.
