Volvo is going to phase out conventional engines and move to electric and hybrid. This starts in the 2019 model year. Is Volvo leaping into the future or jumping off a cliff? The New York Times writes about what Volvo plans to do.
Volvo Cars became the first mainstream automaker to sound the death knell of the internal combustion engine, saying on Wednesday that all the models it introduces from 2019 will be either hybrids or powered solely by batteries.
The decision is the boldest commitment by any major car company to technologies that currently represent a small share of the total vehicle market, but that are increasingly viewed as essential to combating climate change and urban pollution.
While most major automakers offer hybrids and battery-powered options, none of them have been willing to forsake cars powered solely by gasoline or diesel fuel. On the contrary, United States automakers have continued to churn out S.U.V.s and pickup trucks, whose sales have surged because of relatively low fuel prices.
When we wrote about Tesla going to mass production on our sister site, ProfitableInvestingTips.com, we noted that a car maker needs to make money to stay in business and in the case of Volvo forsaking long term gasoline engine users could come with a cost.
A lot of quality car companies have gone away over the years. To profit in the auto industry you need to keep producing excitement, quality, competitive price and volume as needed. You need to avoid labor issues as well.
And if your customers want a cheaper car that burns gasoline you may be hurting yourself by going to electric and hybrid. Volvo is owned by a Chinese company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group so you cannot buy or sell this stock but you can watch to see if Volvo is leaping into the future or jumping off a cliff in its move to electric.
Will Electric Cars be Profitable?
Car sharing is becoming more and more common as the price of cars rises. And self-driving cars are adding another question to the mix. Now electric cars promise to reduce gasoline pollution at the price of more expensive cars. Will companies like Tesla and now Volvo be able to make it when they are not offering a gasoline powered option? Business Insider discusses how the electric car will be the future of transportation.
In 1899 and 1900, electric vehicles outsold all other types of cars. In fact, 28 percent of all 4,192 cars produced in the US in 1900 were electric, according to the American Census. And the total value of electric cars sold was more than gasoline and steam powered cars combined that year.
While electric car makers experienced some success into the 1920s, production peaked in 1912.
By this time, Henry Ford’s mass production of internal-combustion engines made gas-powered cars significantly cheaper than electric cars. For example, in 1912 an electric roadster priced at about $1,750, whereas a gas-powered car cost only $650.
Because gasoline powered cars were cheaper to mass produce they displaced electric entirely by the 1930s. The electric car started making a comeback with pollution control and now will be a necessity for car companies. However, there is a long history of companies making electric cars and then going out of business or going back to gasoline. The jury is still out on whether Volvo is leaping into the future or jumping off of a cliff.
