Volvo bets on compact electric SUVs to pave the road ahead: Report

At a time when almost every major car maker has or is looking to offer electric vehicles, Volvo is well aware that clean cars may just be as important as safe cars and is reportedly looking at a diverse EV product portfolio to stay strong in the game. Long known to underline that high safety standards in its vehicles, Volvo is aiming to pick up pace in the EV segment and a top official recently said that a diverse range of offerings could indeed set the right tone.

Robin Page, Senior Vice President of Design at Volvo, said in an interview to UK's AutoExpress that SUVs are and will remain viable. "The tricky part of the future is the SUV world because the traditional SUV is about a high hip point and roof. As we go into EVs, of course, the value of range and aerodynamics becomes a real point. Volvo is looking for ways to integrate the characteristics of an SUV with the technology to meet sustainability and CO2 targets," he said.

SUVs with coupe-like design philosophy could help in cars which stand tall yet are aerodynamic and therefore, offer a longer range on a single charge. "Of course, those clean aerodynamics that you can find in SUVs tend to mean a coupe-like silhouette. That's not necessarily the case for Volvo, but we can expect at least something similar with sleeker proportions," Page was quoted as explaining.

Volvo has been working towards electric models but some analysts feel it is lagging behind the likes of Volkswagen and Mercedes. It does offer plug-in hybrids in several markets and the XC40 is its first full-electric offering. The all-electric XC40 arrives to international markets later in 2020 and has a 78 kWh battery with a claimed range of 400 kilometres.