Recently, major global automakers have announced their mid- to long-term strategies to achieve 100% electric vehicle conversion within 10 years, and are eager to prepare for the upcoming electric vehicle era.
Sweden Volvo Motors announced on the 2nd that it would completely convert all models it produces by 2030 to electric cars.
To this end, by 2025, 50% of global sales will consist of electric vehicles and 50% of hybrid vehicles.
“There is no future for cars with internal combustion engines,” said Henrik Green, CTO of Volvo Motors.
GM also announced in January that it would stop producing and selling gasoline and diesel engine cars worldwide after 2035 and to pursue full-fledged electric vehicle conversion.
GM, which is developing a technology that lowers the price of batteries by 60%, plans to invest $27 billion (about KRW 30 trillion) in research and development (R&D) over the next five years.
GM plans to introduce electric trucks based on its own’ultium’ battery. At CES 2021 held in January, Chevrolet Volt EUV and Hummer EV based on the Ultium platform were also unveiled.
Ford of the United States announced last month that it will invest a total of 29 billion dollars (about 32 trillion won) in electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles by 2025.
Ford aims to convert the assembly plant in Cologne, Germany into an electric vehicle production facility, to sell only electric vehicles in Europe from 2030.
German Volkswagen plans to turn into an electric vehicle company by releasing 75 electric vehicles by 2029. Volkswagen, which has already developed the electric vehicle platform MEB in 2018, plans to release ID.4 next year based on this.
Bentley, a British supercar brand belonging to the Volkswagen Group, also has a plan to convert all models sold to 100% electric vehicles within 10 years.
Bentley predicts that by 2026, all models will be converted to plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, with a full electric vehicle conversion by 2030.
Jaguar also announced last month that it will replace all models with electric cars from 2025. Land Rover plans to launch six electric vehicles over five years, and the first model is planned to be introduced in 2024.
Hyundai Motor Company[005380]Also, from 2040, it announced last year that it will not sell new cars with internal combustion engines in major global markets such as the United States, Europe, and China.
The sales share of electric vehicles will gradually increase from 5.6% last year to 19% in 2030 and 46% in 2035, raising it to 78% in 2040.
Hyundai Motor Company declared this year the first year of electric vehicle leap forward, and last month unveiled the first model’Ioniq 5’to which an electric vehicle platform was applied.
Kia plans to release seven exclusive electric vehicles by 2026, one year ahead of its original plan, and to sell 1.6 million eco-friendly vehicles annually by 2030.
As such, the reason why the global automaker is starting to switch to electric vehicles can be interpreted as governments are anticipating strengthening environmental regulations, such as banning the sale of internal combustion locomotives.
The UK will ban the sale of new internal combustion engines from 2030, and the sale of hybrid cars in 2035. Norway ceases sales of internal combustion engine vehicles in 2025 and France in 2040.
In addition, it seems that there is a sense of crisis that if the establishment of an electric vehicle conversion strategy is delayed, the competition may be eliminated.
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), the share of electric vehicles in the entire automobile market is expected to rise sharply from 10% in 2025 to 28% in 2030 and 58% in 2040.
The Hyundai Motor Group Global Management Research Center also predicted that this year’s global electric vehicle sales will increase 38.6% year-on-year to 2.35 million units.
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