Volvo makes its final diesel automobile and places it in a museum

Swedish automaker Volvo has rolled out its final diesel-powered automobile, after a 45-year relationship with the powertrain and cranking out thousands and thousands of oil-burning vehicles. Between 2012 and 2016, diesel accounted for half of the corporate’s international gross sales. However these days are over now as the corporate strikes towards an all-electric future.

Since 1991, Volvo made greater than 9 million automobiles with diesel engines. However the information don’t go any additional again, leaving 12 years unaccounted for, in order that complete quantity is so much greater in actuality, experiences Automotive Information Europe.

The ultimate diesel-powered mannequin was an XC90, a big SUV with a turbocharged inline 2-liter four-cylinder engine, which rolled off its manufacturing line yesterday in Torslanda, Sweden. The automobile will head to the World of Volvo museum in Gothenburg, the place it will likely be on show for anybody eager to ponder the noxious emissions of yore. Effectively, not precisely of yore, however not less than it’s la fin for Volvo’s contribution.

The Torslanda manufacturing facility has been converted to creating electrical motors for the model’s lineup of full-electric vehicles. By 2030, Volvo goals to be an electric-only automaker, making it one of many first legacy carmakers to take action.

Former CEO Håkan Samuelsson defined over two years in the past that to “stay profitable, we’d like worthwhile progress.” He added, “So as an alternative of investing in a shrinking enterprise, we select to speculate sooner or later – electrical.”

Again in 2017, he introduced then that Volvo would cease additional improvement on diesels at a time when almost half of all new vehicles bought in Europe had diesel engines. Quick-forward to right this moment, that quantity has dropped to 12%.

Electrek’s Take

It’s good to see the tip phases for diesel, which peaked in 2015, some 30 years after it first achieved a double-digit share of the European market. Within the US, diesel by no means had the identical traction, as a result of abundance of low-cost gasoline. However in Europe over the previous decade, unhealthy buzz began to unfold, with rising considerations over its toxic emissions and the notorious Volkswagen Dieselgate. Now, with electrification firmly taking maintain, diesel engine improvement has all however ceased in Europe. Petrol-burning engines are quickly to see the identical destiny.

In a brand new milestone final yr, the variety of new electrical automobile registrations has exceeded these of diesel-powered automobiles in Europe for the primary time, in line with the European Vehicle Producers Affiliation.

Subsequent yr, the EU is tightening its restrictions with a 15% discount in CO2 emissions by 2025 for each vehicles and vans. From 2030, vehicles will see a 55% discount in emissions (relative to a 2021 baseline), and vans will see a 50% discount. By 2035, all new vehicles and vans registered in Europe shall be zero-emission. It could possibly’t occur quickly sufficient – however in fact, there’s loads of pushback on these targets from automakers.

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