They said they’d do and they finally gone-dun-it. Volvo has all but ended sales of diesel cars and will never seek to use them ever again. It marks the beginning of a process that will begin with electrified, hybrids based on 4-cylinder petrol engines. Eventually, Volvo will make the transition to pure electric cars full-time as the era of internal-combustion-engines is consigned to the history books. The latter is many decades away. Volvo is already has a fleet of electrified vehicles, both mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrids. The transition to pure electric cars begins with the pure electric XC40. But at £60,000 the future of tomorrow isn’t available for many who want it today.

Volvo diesels were never the best in class, so it’s good that they have finally gone. However the petrol engines are also not the best in class, they are comparatively thirsty compared to Volkswagen and BMW and not as refined. Especially the 2.0-litre 4-cylinder engines. If Volvo petrol engines are not best in class, it is logical to assume their electrified descendants will also be somewhat lacking in efficiency and performance.

That being said, the latest generation of Volvo plug-in hybrids far better than earlier iterations. Over the next few years, all Volvos cars will be offered will pure electric powertrains in addition to mild-hybrids and plug-in hybrid variants. Volvo uses the moniker “Recharge” to denote plug-in hybrid models. The petrol-electric XC40 Recharge costs a reasonable £39,000.