Volvo is set to launch fully electric versions of their award-winning XC range, with the XC40 becoming the brands first ever fully electric car.

The Swedish manufacturer has taken the strategic decision to produce electric versions of their current cars, rather than building a new range of vehicles as some rival brands have done.

Volvo is already working on electric vehicles with their Polestar sub-brand and the first full Volvo EV is expected to follow the launch of Polestar’s 2 which is coming in 2019.

“It’s not a secret any more that the first full electric Volvo is on its way with the XC40 coming," said Volvo’s design chief Thomas Ingenlath. "It will arrive very soon after the Polestar 2. That is the first to come that’s not exotic. We’ll start with XC40 and then on it will come step after step into our model range. The next car will be the next generation XC90.”

"That will be the masterplan of how electrification will come to the Volvo product range. We will not establish products beside our hybrids, we will introduce electrification as a powertrain variant within the existing portfolio.

“You could say that is different to a lot of the mass production brands. But I have a hard time to understand how their plan will work in the long run. Electrification is the future of the automotive industry, so how do you handle that as soon as you come to the majority of electric cars, how do you handle it in your portfolio. I think it’s much more natural to say it’s a powertrain variant, that over time will take up the majority of the sold vehicles."

Many other European brands including Volkswagen and Jaguar have produced EV only models, but Volvo, which is owned by China’s Geely, is committed to electrifying every model in its line-up from 2019.

Ingenlath said: "We definitely don’t want to bring something that we’ve so successfully just launched like an XC40 to an end just because combustion engines will disappear," he said. "To look at new formats, new body styles and non-traditional elements, we founded Polestar to take care of that end of the scope. We developed that strategy: full electrification of the Volvo range, making it a natural part of the offer, and at the same time developing new, unconventional elements in the Polestar brand."

With diesel being phased out by the Swedish carmaker, future models will be available in mild hybrid, hybrid or battery-electric powertrain options.

Check out Volvo's award-winning range of cars today at CarSupermarket.com.

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