I guess that we all need to take electric and hybrid technology much more seriously from now on.
Electric cars will have to be competitive in price compared to standard combustion cars in order to get a larger market share.
Regardless of what Volvo says, the marketplace will decide what the public will buy. Initial cost, as mentioned as well as convenience will decide. Operating cost will be a minor consideration, unless gas goes to $8-$10 per gallon, whcih is unlikley in the time span mentioned.
If Volvo phases out pure gasoline cars it will put itself it a niche market.
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Sooo gasoline hybrid cars are indeed still gas cars so the headline is a bit misleading⊠If Volvo can maintain market share with gas-hybrids, great! Have at it! If they misjudged the market, they will pay the price as would any car company with poor product decisions (cough, Aztek, cough)
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Read the article. The article didnât say that Volvo was going to discontinue building gas powered cars. It said that Volvos will be introducing five EVs between 2019 and 2021. It also says very clearly theyâll continue build completely gas powered cars too. And theyâll build hybrids. From what I can see, theyâre way behind the curve. Other manufacturers have already introduced fully electric vehicles, and hybrids have become commonplace.
Whoever wrote this article pulled the headline out of his ear. It does not reflect what Volvo said.
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What @the_same_mountainbik said. All Volvos will have some degree of electricity involved, but that includes hybrids and plug-ins. Bet theyâre the vast majority of sales.
Doesnât gasoline sell for about $7/gallon now in Europe? On that basis, the change makes sense, even in these days of low fuel cost.
Electric vehicles sell at a premium now in order to pay off the nonrecurring costs, like infrastructure and engineering. The price will be become much more attractive when those costs have been paid off. The Tesla Model 3 has likely used up all of its tax deductions and the first one hasnât even been delivered yet. The only electric with good range, the tax deduction, and an affordable price is the Bolt. With a price for the base model after tax breaks nearly $28,000, it is still a very expensive compact car. Fuel price modates the cost a bit too, but it is still expensive.
Usually this is true⊠but⊠I donât see Prius prices being any lower even after being in the market for 20 years. They still cost more than their gas-only counterparts as you would expect given all the extra components they must carry. At least Toyota is making money from them, now.
As for pure electrics, the battery is the most costly part and they are coming down in price. GMâs Bolt goes for $36,600 and Nissanâs Leaf for $30,600. Both at least cost 1/3 more than gasoline cars in their market segment and the Leaf has been out 7 years and the Tesla model S since 2012 with no decreaseâŠ
I keep being TOLD the prices will come down with time with very little visible progress. Iâd be happy with a $20K electric with a 150 mile range as a second car but I donât see it in the near future.
Agree. As long as the batteries cost almost as much as the rest of the car and the range is still mediocre, electric cars will remain expensive. The electric motors cost less to build than a complex internal combustion engine and the electronics will be about the same.
In Europe many countries have reduced taxes on diesel fuel and as a result, 40+ % of cars sold in France and Italy are diesels. Hybrids are far more popular in Canada and the US than in Europe.
Lithium batteries solved most of the weight problem but costs have to come down. I see only a gradual cost reduction in the future no matter what Tesla says!.
Although Tesla has a showroom in one of our upscale malls here, I only Know one person who has one, a medical heart specialist. His colleagues mostly drive Mercedes, BMW and high end Lexus models. nudging $100,000.
The various governments will not forever keep subsidizing electric vehicles. They will have to stand on their own feet soon.
In the forseable future electric cars will remain expensive politically correct toys.
The Prius never dropped in price because it was and is wildly popular. Toyota would have dropped the price if they had to, but could keep it high because they had a big winner in their stable. I donât have anything against making money and Iâm sure you donât either. Good for them.
I donât thin Toyota would have dropped the price if they had to. If they hadnât gotten to profitability, they likely would drop the car. You canât sell at a loss forever so good for them that they figured out how to command a premium.
They did manage to build a bit of a cult around these cars amongst those that want to wear their âGreenâ on their car of choice so they can command that price premium. And that cult has done them well while others havenât learned. Honda built the first hybrid, the Insight, but failed to capitalize on it by making hybrid versions from their Civic and Accord. Neither of which were much different. Canât wear your âGreenâ proudly if no one knows you drive a hybrid!
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Yup. Except that the article doesnât say that Volvo is going to do what the articleâs headline says. Volvo isnât going full EV. Volvo is simply releasing five EV models. The article specifically states that Volvo is going to continue making all-gas vehicles. Whoever write the articleâs headline doesnât appear to have read the article. Amazing, but true!
You are correct, but I think it is interesting to note that EVERY site that publishedâand amplified-- Volvoâs press release posted an essentially similar headline. That includes Fortune magazine, which calls itself âThe Capitalist Toolâ.
It seems that everyoneâincluding meâwas guilty of not reading the full details of Volvoâs press release.
Could that massive amount of miscommunication be the result of poor English usage in the original press release, as a result of Volvoâs Chinese ownership?
Quien sabe?
Possible. But I suspect something more nefarious going on. Another thread has a link that requires you to subscribe to a publication to read the full story. I smell a rat.
I think youâre right, @bing. Geely is big into electric cars, and this makes sense for them. Iâm sure they want to make sales in Europe and North America, but this move was made for the Chinese market.
In other newsâŠ,Geely bought a controlling interest in Lotus cars and a FLYING CAR company!
Excuse me, doesnât a hybrid car have a conventional gasoline engine?
For sure. A better headline would have been âEvery Volvo will soon have an electric motorâ