We proudly introduced it to the world at Climate Week NYC in September final 12 months, and now it’s turning into a actuality: we’ve constructed our final diesel automotive.

On a cloudy Thursday in early February, the plant in Ghent, Belgium, produced its final diesel-powered automotive, a V60. And simply the opposite day, the plant in Torslanda, Sweden, noticed its final XC90 diesel automotive roll off the manufacturing line.

These occasions mark an enormous milestone in Volvo Cars’ 97-year historical past. With this transfer, we’re taking an enormous step in the direction of our ambitions of turning into a totally electrical automotive maker, in addition to reaching web zero greenhouse fuel emissions by 2040.

Goodbye diesel, howdy electrical

For a very long time, our diesel engines had been synonymous with reliability and effectivity, they usually meant an awesome deal to us for a lot of a long time. Indeed, the success of our diesel automobiles performed a big function in our evolution right into a premium model.

In latest years, the electrical revolution has developed faster than most of us might have imagined – and it’s largely propelled by tightening laws round tailpipe emissions, in addition to buyer demand in response to the local weather disaster and a want for cleaner city air. Only 5 years in the past, the diesel engine was our bread and butter in Europe, identical to it was for many different automotive makers. The majority of the automobiles we bought in Europe in 2019 ran on diesel, whereas electrical fashions had been simply beginning to acquire traction.

Today, most of our gross sales on the continent are electrified automobiles. Last 12 months, we elevated our gross sales of absolutely electrical automobiles by 70 per cent, and our international electrical market share by 34 per cent. The figures communicate for themselves, underscoring that the all-electric course we’re now heading in the direction of is the precise one to take, and we achieve this with our flag held excessive.

While our future certainly is absolutely electrical, our blended portfolio consists of some wonderful plug-in hybrid and mild-hybrid fashions, which is able to act as an ideal bridge in the direction of that future.

A historical past of satisfaction

As we are saying farewell to our diesel automobiles, let’s discover the way it all started and unfolded. Here are some key milestones in our diesel historical past:

•    1979. Neither Sweden nor Europe is a diesel market. Those who purchase diesel automobiles are usually taxi drivers or long-haul travellers. But folks have slowly begun to see the advantages of the extra environment friendly diesel engines and demand is on the rise. So, we take heed to our prospects and introduce our first-ever diesel automotive: the Volvo 244 GL D6. The engine is highly effective, very environment friendly and the world’s first six-cylinder diesel engine for passenger automobiles.

•    2001. The diesel automotive scene good points momentum. When we launch the Volvo V70, it’s additionally lastly time for us to introduce our first self-built diesel engine. This five-cylinder engine, manufactured on the Volvo powertrain plant in Skövde, Sweden, is to turn out to be an enormous success and can energy many Volvo automobiles throughout Europe. It’s made in a number of totally different variations and is so highly effective that it’s even getting used on the racetrack in a automotive referred to as the S60 Challenge. Also, our buddies at Volvo Penta even determined to make a marine model of this engine.

•    2008. Time for our subsequent massive diesel milestone: the launch of the Drive-E lineup – that includes small but extremely environment friendly 1.6-litre diesel engines. With the solar in your face and the wind at your again, you may go 1,300km on a single tank, and CO2 emission ranges are so low that they get labeled as ‘green engines’ in Sweden. The Drive-E engines are flexibly constructed and work properly in numerous Volvo fashions. With their steadiness of effectivity and efficiency, they mark an enormous step ahead in diesel know-how.

•    2012. We launch the Volvo V60 D6 plug-in hybrid, which is a novel automotive: it’s the world’s first plug-in hybrid fitted with a diesel engine. At the time, it’s our most technically superior mannequin ever – electrical, hybrid and a muscle automotive unexpectedly. And it’s really one thing of an engineering surprise. Depending on the driving mode, it might go so far as 50 kilometres on electrical energy, has a complete vary of as much as 1,000 kilometres, and with 215 horsepower from the diesel engine and 70 horsepower from the electrical motor, it accelerates from 0 to 100km/h in 6.2 seconds.

•    2013. For the second time in historical past, we launch a very self-built diesel engine household: Volvo Engine Architecture (VEA). The mixture of upper injection stress and the distinctive i-ART know-how is taken into account revolutionary within the diesel trade. Our prospects can take pleasure in higher gasoline financial system, decrease emissions and excessive output. The new engines are utilized in a wide range of fashions and turn out to be successful within the second-generation XC90. They stay on till the top, powering the final diesel-powered V60 and XC90 we construct.

•    2023. We transfer away from combustion engines by promoting our stake in Aurobay, the combustion engine three way partnership firm now we have along with Geely Holding.