[dZired]

Volvo won't be developing any new-generation diesel engines. This revelation was made by the company's CEO, Hakan Samuelsson. The said decision is a result of rising costs of reducing nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel engines, after various countries started adopting stringent emission laws for diesel vehicles.

However, the Swedish carmaker will continue to tweak and develop the current diesel engine line-up to meet any upcoming emission norms. Volvo introduced new-generation diesel engines in 2013 and is planning to use these powerplants till 2023. Interestingly, diesel is still a popular choice for Volvo customers as the company claims that around 90% sales of its flagship SUV - the XC90, have come for the diesel models.

Meanwhile, Volvo is eyeing heavily on the electric and hybrid car scene. The automaker has already announced that it will unveil its first ever fully electric vehicle by 2019, with deliveries expected to start by 2021. The company's CEO has also pointed towards the popularity and success that Tesla has received for its electric cars and has indicated that Volvo too will try to find a space for themselves in the niche segment of all-electric luxury cars.

Source: Autonews

Link to Team-BHP News

[vishy76]

Originally Posted by dZired

Volvo won't be developing any new-generation diesel engines. This revelation was made by the company's CEO, Hakan Samuelsson. The said....

Sad news. I still think diesels have an upper hand in the luxury segments especially. The torque and sometimes reliability of diesels is preferred over impractical electric cars. Long distance touring is going to be a concern with electric cars unless Volvo develops a proper system for the same.

Again, in developing countries, the infrastructure is not modern enough or sophisticated to support electric cars at all. You need country wide coverage for these things.

Anyways, if it does good for the environment, then it could be welcomed especially in the EU where emission norms are stringent.

[sudeepg]

Originally Posted by vishy76

Sad news. I still think diesels have an upper hand in the luxury segments especially. The torque and sometimes reliability of diesels is preferred over impractical electric cars. Long distance touring is going to be a concern with electric cars unless Volvo develops a proper system for the same.

Again, in developing countries, the infrastructure is not modern enough or sophisticated to support electric cars at all. You need country wide coverage for these things.

Anyways, if it does good for the environment, then it could be welcomed especially in the EU where emission norms are stringent.

The fun of driving a high revving petrol and high torque diesels is something many will always prefer. Especially the engine note is something that many enjoy. Electric cars, though will not have that but will surely benefit the environment. I think it's a matter of time before the infrastructure catches up and early runners will benefit just as it started out with fuel based automobiles.

We really need to have a focus on sustainable, renewable energy going forward - for the sake our future generations and for our own sake as well.

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

The fun of driving a high revving petrol and high torque diesels is something many will always prefer. Especially the engine note is something that many enjoy.

Electric cars may not have the engine note but the instant torque that they provide will be surreal. Also, I may be among the very few, but I don't like the engine noise at all. Its one of the main reasons why I love and chose IVTEC over noisy IDTEC, VWs and skoda engines.

To me its engine noise, not engine note.

On another note, diesel cars on the road are much more pollutant than in lab tests, based on study conducted in 10 major countries including India
https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/15/1...emature-deaths

[Skyline_GT]

Diesel cars are synonymous to Volvo just the way economical/affordable cars is to Maruti.

Volvo still could have managed to keep the diesel mills by tweaking it here and there to meet with the ever stringent emissions norms.
Volvo SUV's and Crossovers will never be the same with puny electric mills the way diesel mills have been powering them all these years.

[Kestrel5915]

http://www.bmwblog.com/2017/02/21/bm...t-new-engines/

Here's BMW's take on the same subject a few months back.

They don't seem to be slowing down on this anytime soon.

Here's an excerpt:

Herr Wölfel said: “We do not see any drop in the demand for diesel engines, and we would like to have a factual discussion on the subject. We will still need highly efficient internal combustion engines in the next 10, 20 years due to the CO2 reduction targets in Europe and in many other countries around the world. The BMW Group will continue to develop its diesel engines in the future. Developing means investing. By the end of 2017, we will build 30 new engine test stands by investing 100 million euros, which will enable us to continue to develop and build the best engines in the world. This is a clear commitment to Austria and the location of Steyr.”

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Skyline_GT

SUV's and Crossovers will never be the same with puny electric mills the way diesel mills have been powering them all these years.

Well, maybe that will be the end of the SUV and crossovers. Which, As far as Im concerned would not be a bad thing. However, I don't think so.

I have always preferred petrol over diesel, at least for my cars. These days the electrical and or hybrid version of models are capable of outperforming a diesel in terms of torque and thus acceleration. It's just a matter of some time, before electrical, either hybrid or 100% take over. India might be lacking behind compared to some countries, but it will happen, no doubt.

I have never quite understood the popularity of diesels in India. I would say in most western countries most people would still try to avoid diesels over petrols. In certain countries diesels are more economic to run, especially on high mileages. E.g. Our company car policy requires you to go diesel when you are expected to drive more than 25.000 km per year. People will cheat on their application to lower their yearly mileage just to avoid diesels.

In day to day use diesel or petrol doesn't really matter. And having that very low end high torque is appealing to many drivers. All about convenience.

Jeroen

[GTO]

Not a good move. Diesel isn't going anywhere, especially in some European countries, parts of Asia etc. Volvo will still keep tweaking its existing diesels (none of which are too impressive) to meet future emission norms. When they can't, I expect the company to simply source the diesels from another manufacturer. Compared to the big guys, Volvo has limited financial resources and I guess chooses to invest that money instead in future-tech.

Diesel though is quickly becoming a bad word. In the USA, it's finished after VW's scam. In India too, the step-motherly treatment from authorities is giving it a negative reputation.

Originally Posted by vishy76

The torque and sometimes reliability of diesels is preferred over impractical electric cars.

Again, in developing countries, the infrastructure is not modern enough or sophisticated to support electric cars at all.

Well said.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Well, maybe that will be the end of the SUV and crossovers.

On the contrary, SUVs & Crossovers (especially) are only poised to grow their market-share, as has been the case for the last couple of years. They are murdering sedans.

These days the electrical and or hybrid version of models are capable of outperforming a diesel in terms of torque and thus acceleration.

And direct-injection turbo-petrols too.

I have never quite understood the popularity of diesels in India

They're no longer popular. Petrol is now ahead by a mile; diesel market-share is falling every quarter in India.

[StarrySky]

I guess the next "scandal" is going to be about these petrol-hybrid SUVs. FE is artificially boosted and CO2 value thus artificially lowered, resulting in lower taxes. None of these SUVs return anywhere near the claimed efficiency, unless your only use for them is for small trips in the city (low speeds), where you have access to charging infrastructure at both source and destination. They are priced at a sizable premium over the diesel versions, which owners will probably never recover in running costs. Hybrid-gate is coming

[Turbohead]

I don't know why there's so much of negative hype around electric/hybrid cars! I request people to check out some of those Tesla reviews!

The best part about electric motors is that they produce max torque at 0 RPM! These motors are very efficient compared to internal combustion engines, which suffer from high energy losses​ in the form of heat!

IMO Volvo is doing the right thing-Getting future ready! Electric is the way to go in mega markets like the US, where Tesla is minting money! And let's not forget their USP-safety, which, along with low pollution, will create a strong case for itself in such markets.

Electric is definitely the way to go. It's high time companies started investing in electric and battery technology in order to create cars with high range and reliability.

I know I don't sound like an enthusiast but I like clean air. And I bet you do too.

[rdst_1]

India is still a long way away when we could use fully electric cars reliably. However, we can swiftly move towards Hybrid cars. The engines in these cars can reliably be used to generate electricity which then can move the wheels with minimal losses, thus increasing the efficiency many folds. The Camry Hybrid is known to give a higher average of 18-19kmpl in the city when electric energy is doing majority of the work, compared to 10-12 kmpl on highways.
This future can be achieved a lot quickly and is sustainable on petrol which is a much cleaner fuel than diesel.

[sri_tesla]

Volvo just announced that they will stop the production of cars that run solely on diesel or petrol by 2019. Every car from 2019 will have an electric power train. That means all volvo cars from 2019 will be either fully electric or electric hybrid models.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/...r-go-electric/

Highlights from todays announcement:
1. With today's announcement volvo becomes the first major traditional automaker to go all electric.
2. Between 2019 and 2021, Volvo will release 5 fully electric cars. Out of these 5, 2 will be under the recently revived high performance polestar brand.
3. Rest of the volvo range will come with plug-in-hybrid power train.
4. By 2025, Volvo is planning to sell 1 million electrified cars.

[sgiitk]

Now that Volvo are committed to progressively an all electric fleet, this is a natural corollary. This will only spur the switch over.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

The fun of driving a high revving petrol and high torque diesels is something many will always prefer. Especially the engine note is something that many enjoy.

The engine note can always be simulated via sound system for in-cockpit entertainment! At least the passerby will not be subjected to the "racket".

You know one man's music is usually another man's noise.

Engine characteristics wise (i.e. torque vs RPM) electric motors trump combustion engines. And even if someone want's the particular engine response - it can be tailored.

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by Kestrel5915

Here's an excerpt:

Herr Wölfel said: “We do not see any drop in the demand for diesel engines, and we would like to have a factual discussion on the subject. We will still need highly efficient internal combustion engines in the next 10, 20 years due to the CO2 reduction targets in Europe and in m....”

Quite surprised by the statement, and the amount of investment they are talking about, simply because Germany, the "THE" place of automobile technology inventions, has pledged to not sell any car running on fossil fuel from 2030. India too has such dreams.
My belief is that a lot of European countries will follow suit.
In such scenario, where major countries are looking at fossil fuel free cars in future, investing a 100 million in lesser preferred fossil fuel looks like a hogwash. If not, then somehow it does not make any business sense.