Volvo Seemingly Reneges on All EV Promise, A Year After Announcing It

After Volvo proudly declared in 2023 that their fleet would go fully EV by 2030, the Swedes seem to be pivoting slightly into a focus on hybrids.

In 2023, CCO of Volvo Bjorn Annwall said that there are “no ifs, no buts,” about going fully electric and declared that “Volvo will not sell a single car that is not full-electric after 2030, regardless of market.”

Well, according to a recent investor quarterly webcast, Volvo CEO Jim Rowan said that, he’s a “huge believer in electrical propulsion,” which he called a better technology than the internal combustion engine.

But Rowan acknowledged it will “take time to bridge different parts of the world for full electrification.”

Hybrids “form a solid bridge for our customers that are not ready to move to full electrification,” he said July 18. “Our plug-in hybrids and mild hybrids remain very strong and popular with our customers, and we will continue to invest in this lineup.”

According to a report by Inside EVs, Volvo dealers have reportedly cast a similar doubt on the brand’s fully electric direction as well.

Some dealerships say that they expect to sell gas-powered hybrids past the turn of the decade despite what brand executives have been promising over the past three years. “We will have to, or we will die,” said one dealer when speaking to Automotive News. “Volvo has gotten way out over their skis with this EV-only strategy.”

Another person familiar with Volvo’s future plans says that the automaker expects to hone in on hybrids over the next decade. Once the EV markets across the world—including the U.S. market—matures, revisiting the BEV-or-bust strategy may be back in the cards.