STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – Swedish automaker Volvo Cars, plans to release its first fully electric car in 2019, while plug-in hybrids will be introduced for all of its models, the company announced Thursday.
Vovlo Chief Executive Officer Hakan Samuelsson said he expects electric cars to make up 10 percent of Volvo’s global sales in two years’ time.
“We believe that the time has come for electric cars to cease being a niche technology and enter the mainstream,” Samuelsson said in a statement.
Volvo plans to introduce a range of smaller 40 series cars that are fully electric, the company said.
However, it also claimed that plug-in hybrid cars offer customers “the best combination of efficiency, range and convenience.”
The company’s XC90 SUV and 290 sedan models come with hybrid engines, while a new, front-wheel driven hybrid will be developed in coming years.
Volvo Cars, which was acquired by Chinese auto company Geely in 2010, employs over 26,000 people worldwide and sold some 460,000 cars in 2014.