Volvo Inches Closer to Its Goal of All-Electric Sales by 2030

• Volvo notes that in September 2023 the share of battery-electric vehicles accounted for 15% of all Volvo sales worldwide.

• In the first nine months of 2023 the automaker saw a 27.6% increase in sales, pointing to an emergence from pandemic-related disruptions.

• The automaker plans to transition to an EV-only lineup by the year 2030, suggesting that significant gains in EV sales will come by that date.

Volvo may not have the variety of electric models that Mercedes-Benz does at the moment, and the EX90 flagship has yet to launch stateside after some delays. But the automaker has advanced in one important metric.

The automaker revealed details of its performance for the first nine months of this year, painting a picture of a steady increase in the sale of hybrid-electric, as well as battery-electric models.

Volvo reports that in the month of September alone the share of battery-electric vehicles accounted for 15% of all Volvo sales worldwide, compared to 12% in September 2022. And when hybrids are factored in, that percentage rose to 34% globally in the month of September. This means one third of Volvos sold during the past month worldwide were hybrids or EVs.

In a vacuum, 15% might seem encouraging, especially compared to far larger EV laggards like Honda or Toyota.

But this sort of year-on-year growth does not exactly portend achieving 100% EV sales by the end of the decade. Much greater gains will have to be made in the coming years that will also have to successfully convert the 85% of Volvo buyers who didn't buy an EV this year. Otherwise, those customers could go elsewhere.

2023 has also been a year of regaining strength after the disruptions of the first three years of the pandemic, which have affected all automakers and suppliers and continue to cause problems for production of certain components. That's another reason why sales, overall, have increased this year for many automakers.

"For the first nine months of 2023, the company sold 92,125 cars, an increase of 27.6% compared with the same period last year," Volvo noted, addressing its US sales, adding that September 2023 alone saw sales growth of 65% compared to same month in 2022.

Recent EV arrivals have even allowed Volvo to post a gain of 631% in EV sales this September in the US compared to the same time last year, with Volvo selling 1126 EVs last month compared to 154 in September 2022. Overall, Volvo posted an all-time record for the month of September when it comes to US sales.

But when it comes to those battery-electric models, at the moment Volvo dealers can deliver only the C40 Recharge and the XC40 Recharge.

However, the automaker's battery-electric lineup will receive a major boost when sales of the delayed EX90 begin in 2024, and when Volvo's smallest and most affordable model arrives on sale in the first quarter of the year.

It is the EX30, revealed earlier this summer, that could become the brand's volume EV.

"The fully electric EX30 might be our smallest ever SUV, but it's a big deal for our customers and a big deal for us as a company," Volvo CEO Jim Rowan said earlier this summer. “We like to say the EX30 is small yet mighty, because it delivers on everything you'd want from a Volvo but in a smaller package."

A year from now, Volvo's pure electric lineup is bound to look much more imposing.

Is Volvo's goal of transitioning to EV-only sales by 2030 realistic, or will a significant portion of its repeat buyers resist the change? Let us know what you think in the comments below.