What is this about?

Volvo has announced that it will have an all-electric vehicle on sale by 2019 and that this could be built on its new Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform. Company President and CEO, Hâkan Samuelsson, announced that Volvo's new strategy will see increased electrification of the company's vehicles. He went on to say: "We believe that the time has come for electrified cars to cease being a niche technology and enter the mainstream. We are confident that in two years' time, 10 per cent of Volvo's global sales will be electrified cars."

What has prompted this?

Volvo has been working towards the plug-in hybrid path for some time and its current XC90 T8 Twin Engine is a showcase of just what it can do, producing a large SUV that has 407hp yet emissions of just 49g/km.

What is the next stage?

It is believed that this Twin Engine technology will appear in the forthcoming Volvo S90 saloon, which is pencilled in to debut in 2016. These models use the Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform although Volvo says that its new, smaller CMA platform will also be capable of accepting this plug-in hybrid drivetrain technology.

According to Björn Annwall, Volvo's Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing and Customer Service, the company sees this as key to its future success. He said: "CMA is a key part of the continued growth strategy of the Volvo Cars brand. Apart from offering all the benefits and features of a larger premium car, such as the industry-leading safety, powertrain and infotainment technologies, CMA will deliver a true and distinctive Volvo driving and ownership experience setting it apart from others in this growing premium segment."

What will these cars be like?

The CMA platform will share much with the larger SPA item already in use, but the CMA platform could underpin the next generation of Volvo V40, a car that still currently uses a variation of the Ford Focus platform. With the demise of the C30 there is room in the range for a more affordable small car and this is the model that may be the brand's first all-electric model, while the V40 replacement may stick to plug-in hybrid technology in the beginning.