When asked directly if Volvo needed to consider an electric version of the type of vehicle that it has been synonymous with over several decades, Rowan said, “Yes, of course we do. We need to look at our range. We’ve topped and tailed that [with EX90 and EX30] and as you know, the C40 and XC40 have been born out of a car that was, in effect, a hybrid, so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that at some point we’ll need to electrify that. And then we’ve got to fill in the rest.
“Some of it is pretty easy, and then for some of it, you have to make choices. And I get so many emails asking me when somebody is going to do a proper electric wagon – mainly from people in northern Europe and Maine! But then you say, ‘What if we did that?’ and ask ‘What if we did a Cross Country version of it?’. Would that be something that would work in our portfolio? I’m not going to give an answer on that right now, but I will say that it’s something that it makes sense for us to be looking at.
“Can we do a really nicely designed and intelligent wagon? Yes, of course we can. The point really is whether we should do it – is there enough margin there, is there enough demand for that car? Are people really going to say, ‘Okay, I’d rather have a nicely designed wagon than choose a sedan [saloon] or an SUV’? Do we think the market is going to move back into that area? Because demand for estate cars and saloons has gone down in Europe. It’s a decision that we need to make, and we need to make it with the market intelligence that we have. We’re going to launch a new electric car every year for the next five years. Will an electric wagon be one of them? Watch this space.”
Electric Volvo estate exclusive image
Our exclusive image (above) shows how Volvo’s latest styling language from the EX90 and EX30 could transfer to a lower but more practical model – one that could almost certainly share a production site with the forthcoming electric saloon.
The company’s newly installed Global Head of Design, Jeremy Offer, said that advancements in battery installation technology – such as stitching the cells directly into the car’s structure, to make the floor thinner – may be required before an EV can mix current estate-car practicality with a low enough roofline.
But Offer added, “There’s always a balancing act with wagons, between maximising the amount of cabin space and optimising the aerodynamics. However, there’s no reason, if we wanted to create an estate, or a saloon, or whatever, why great design couldn’t make it sexy.”
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