This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience while browsing it. By clicking 'Got It' you're accepting these terms.
Most recent
Trending
Top Videos
The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
Volvo Announces 'Historic End' to Combustion Engine, All Cars Going Electric
Volvo Cars announced Wednesday that every car it launches from 2019 will have an electric motor, marking a "historic end" to the internal combustion engine.
This makes Volvo the first traditional carmaker to fully embrace electrification.
"This is a clear commitment towards reducing our carbon footprint as well as contributing to better air quality in our cities," HÃ¥kan Samuelsson, president and chief executive, said. He then stated goals of selling 1 million electrified cars by 2025.
The company will still produce older Volvos with pure combustion engines after 2019, but its latest move signals its eventual phasing out conventional gas guzzlers. As the New York Times noted, other major car manufacturers have introduced EVs or hybrids to their line but none have entirely ditched making new cars powered solely by gasoline or diesel fuel.
"This is about the customer," Samuelsson added. "People increasingly demand electrified cars and we want to respond to our customers' current and future needs."
The automaker is based in Sweden but is owned by China's Geely Automobile Holdings, which produces electric vehicles for China, a major market for battery-powered cars.
Volvo said it will launch five fully electric cars between 2019 and 2021. The rest of its fleet will comprise of plug-in hybrid cars and mild hybrid cars.
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Grecia Elenes grew up in Fresno, California. She says some parts of the city have been neglected for decades. When she moved back after college she realized nothing has changed.
Three U.S. firefighters gave their lives battling Australia's historic wildfires Thursday when their airborne water tanker crashed.
Doomsday Clock Moves to 100 Seconds Before Midnight Due to Threats of Nuclear War and Climate Change
In a new report about how the world's coral reefs face "the combined threats of climate change, pollution, and overfishing" — endangering the future of marine biodiversity — a London-based nonprofit calls for greater global efforts to end the climate crisis and ensure the survival of these vital underwater ecosystems.
Trending
The world is using up more and more resources and global recycling is falling. That's the grim takeaway from a new report by the Circle Economy think tank, which found that the world used up more than 110 billion tons, or 100.6 billion metric tons, of natural resources, as Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.