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Volvo draws an honest ecological balance
Volvo publishes the life cycle assessment of the new Volvo C40 Recharge Pure Electric and compares its carbon footprint with that of the petrol-powered Volvo XC40. The result is surprising.
Volvo draws an honest ecological balance
The life cycle assessment of the Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric published by Volvo Cars on the occasion of the World Climate Conference shows how different scenarios affect the vehicle's CO2 footprint. The new Volvo C40 Recharge Pure Electric has a CO2 footprint of around 27 tonnes over its entire life cycle. However, this only occurs if the charging current comes exclusively from clean energy sources. If, on the other hand, the vehicle owner uses the average global energy mix, in which around 60 percent of electricity is generated from fossil fuels, emissions rise to up to 50 tons of CO2. This significantly reduces the gap to conventionally powered vehicles. The Volvo
Green electricity for production
Green energy also has a significant influence on the CO2 balance in vehicle production: the Volvo C40 Recharge has around 70 percent higher emissions during production than a Volvo XC40 with a gasoline engine. The CO2-intensive production of batteries and steel as well as the higher aluminum content are responsible for this. To counteract this, Volvo Cars is researching the development of fossil-free steel in collaboration with the Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB. Together with Northvolt, batteries will also be produced using 100 percent renewable energy. Over the entire life cycle, the company wants to reduce the CO2 footprint of an average Volvo vehicle by 40 percent by 2025 compared to 2018. CO2 savings of 25 percent in the supply chain should also contribute to this.
The end of the combustion engine
Volvo is pursuing one of the most ambitious electrification plans in the automotive industry and will offer exclusively electric cars from 2030. On the path to becoming a climate-neutral company by 2040, Volvo is also striving to reduce CO2 emissions across its entire business operations. “But we cannot make the transition to climate neutrality alone,” explains Håkan Samuelsson, President and CEO of Volvo Cars. “We need governments and energy companies around the world to increase their investments in clean energy and the associated charging infrastructure so that fully electric vehicles can really deliver on their promise of cleaner mobility.”