The End Of Volvo's Diesel Engines Is Coming Sooner Than You Might Think

Over the past few years, an increasing number of companies have gotten serious about fighting climate change, and Volvo is one of them. But not all have laid out plans quite as aggressive as the famous Swedish vehicle manufacturer has cooked up. During Climate Week NYC, Volvo stated that by 2030, it plans on exclusively selling fully electric cars. Additionally, by 2040, the company is hoping to become climate-neutral. This new plan follows the company's decision last year to stop investing in the development of new combustion engines.

Volvo seems serious about these ambitions, as it also announced that it would stop producing diesel-powered Volvo vehicles early next year. Chief executive Jim Rowan at Volvo Cars believes this is the logical path forward, stating that electric cars are all around better than combustion vehicles as "they generate less noise, less vibration, less servicing costs for our customers and zero tailpipe emissions." Tailpipe emissions on vehicles are a significant problem, as the data indicates a large chunk of the world's CO2 emissions are coming from the transportation sector. This makes EVs more environmentally friendly than gas and diesel-powered vehicles. And with the public coming to terms with the very real threat climate change imposes, it's hard not to call Volvo's ambitious plan admirable. 

Volvo noted that the United Nations Global Climate Stocktake report issued earlier this year influenced its decision to go all in on electric. The report analyzed two years' worth of data to discover how individuals and corporations are working to combat greenhouse gas emissions. After peering over the results, Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO of the World Resources Institute, called it a "truly damning report card for global climate efforts" and stated that carbon emission is still increasing, and the biggest contributing countries are not doing enough to stop it. However, Dasgupta said the rise in electric vehicles is a glimmer of hope. Volvo must have taken this information to heart.

Fans of the brand may know that every car offered by Volvo since 2019 has been electrified. However, not all of them were fully electric, as vehicles such as the Volvo V60 barely ticked the box of being an EV. So, this still marks a new era for the company.

The Swedish car company wants to inspire other companies with its actions. It showcased that the majority of its sales in Europe are already electric vehicles. So, as the popularity of EVs and the climate crisis both continue to climb at a staggering rate, it won't be surprising if other vehicle manufacturers lay out similar plans to Volvo in the coming years.