Volvo Targets 40% Carbon Cut For Vehicles And Factories As It Rolls Out Electric Crossover

Electric cars are great at reducing tailpipe emissions, but building them is also highly energy-intensive so Volvo is using the launch of its new XC40 EV to commit to a 40% reduction across-the-board in its carbon footprint, from factory operations to the on-road performance of its cars and SUVs. 

Hakan Samuelsson, the Swedish carmaker’s CEO, told reporters in Los Angeles that the corporate sustainability target is to be met by 2025, and that longer term Volvo’s operations will be 100% carbon neutral by 2040. Hitting these targets requires increased use of renewable electricity at its auto-assembly plants in Europe, China and the U.S. and greater reuse of recycled materials, from steel, aluminum and plastids to cobalt from spent consumer market lithium-ion batteries. 

“We will bring sustainability into our company not as something add-on, because it’s good or something that’s expected of us. We bring it into the company because we think it’s really good for our business,” Samuelsson said on Wednesday. “It will make our company grow faster, it will make our company stronger, exactly as safety made Volvo stronger.”

Car-clogged Los Angeles, with its long-running battles against auto exhaust and congestion, is a particularly appropriate backdrop for Volvo’s sustainability plans as it’s among the biggest markets in the U.S. for electric vehicles and renewable energy. And while California offers the most generous incentives for consumers to buy zero-emission vehicles and charging EV charging infrastructure keeps growing, Volvo’s plan to expand its line of battery-powered models faces a tougher road across the U.S.

A new study from auto industry researcher J.D. Power published earlier Wednesday finds that consumer interest in buying electric cars remains “neutral,” with a score of 55 out of 100 in its Q3 Mobility Confidence Index Study, using data from SurveyMonkey. Concerns include purchase prices for EVs that remain above gasoline-powered vehicles and availability of charging infrastructure. Consumers are even more wary about self-driving vehicle tech, which scored only 36 out of hundred in the J.D. Power report. 

“It was a little surprising to find consumer sentiment about self-driving vehicles and electrification has stayed flat, but it shows that consumers are really steadfast in their opinions about new mobility technologies right now, regardless of how close they are to being available for purchase,” said Kristin Kolodge, J.D. Power’s Executive Director, Driver Interaction & Human Machine Interface Research. 

The electric XC40 will have about 250 miles of range per charge when it goes on sale in the U.S. next year, priced at about $50,000, CTO Henrik Green said. It will be Volvo’s first model designed to get over the air software updates to gain new capabilities–a feature Tesla pioneered years ago–and will integrate Google Assistant, Google Maps and Google Play into the infotainment system with voice control. The vehicle’s 78-kilowatt-hour battery pack, with cells supplied by LG Chem and China’s CATL, delivers 408 horsepower and 0-60 mph acceleration in under 5 seconds.

To further entice buyers, Volvo is offering one year of free charging for the XC40 and its plug-in hybrid vehicles at its dealerships.

Samuelsson says Volvo’s bet on electric vehicles and more sustainable production methods looks less risky in light of regulations in Europe and other international markets and because consumers will ultimately find them more enjoyable to drive. “Once you go to an electric car–and can charge it–I think you’ll probably stay with it. Same as always, once you have a car with an electric gearbox you never go back to a stick shift.” 

“The whole idea with technology is it must bring more attractive cars to consumers. If you also have a green conscience and can say you’re doing something for the environment it’s a bonus but that will not sell the cars,” he said. “If you do nothing are just to continue selling what you already have, I would be quite sure that that’s even more risky.”