Volvo Is Raising $2.9 Billion to Accelerate Their Electric Car Agenda
Ford, with its 14 million dollar investment in electric car facilities, has got nothing on Volvo’s plan. The Sweedish automaker is all in on electric cars, ready to raise $2.9 billion. Though, the keyword is “raise,” as Volvo doesn’t actually have the dough yet. Here’s how Volvo plans to accelerate its electric car growth.
The company’s electric car plan revolves around selling shares
What Volvo is doing is called an Internal Public Offering, or IPO. It’s essentially a fundraising effort where the company allows the public to buy shares of the company. Now, buying a share of the company is different than buying Volvo stock, as stock is broader. Shares of the company are directly related to how much of the company you own.
And going public like this allows Volvo to raise that $2.9 billion without using any credit. Sure, they have to hire bankers and accountants and file millions of dollars worth of paperwork. But the net gain, in the end, would be worth it.
Parent company Geely may also sell some shares to help Volvo rapidly electrify their lineup. They’ve already committed to going hybrid, but this is a larger step forward. So if they manage to raise the money, what exactly is Volvo going to spend $2.9 billion on?
Volvo will rid its lineup of internal combustion cars by 2030
Every automaker has its own electric car timeline. But if Volvo holds true to their new promise of eliminating gas engines by 2030, they’d beat GM to the punch. GM’s original goal was to sell only electric cars by 2035, which made them the frontrunner in the transition to EVs.
“The intention here is to secure the future of the company,” said CEO Hakan Samuelsson said in a Wall Street Journal report. “Volvo will be an electric car company.”
Many of the funds will go toward converting their plant in Charleston South Carolina to an electric car factory. The 1,500 employees already oversee the production of the S60 sedan, and the company has sunk over a billion dollars into upgrading the factory. But it’ll need a complete retool for their next electric cars. This will be the first of the plants to go all-electric.
But as of right now, Volvo is actually behind when it comes to electric cars. So what does an eclectic future look like for Volvo?
When will we start seeing Volvo electric cars?
Currently, the only Volvo electric car is the XC40 recharge, which will run you $55,000. It has a range of 223 miles, which is beaten out by upper-end Nissan Leafs, and takes 33 minutes to go from 0% to 80% charge. These aren’t necessarily bad numbers, but they’re not remarkable.
Whether these funds will trickle into Polestar is uncertain, but Volvo is committed toward selling 50% electric cars by 2025, putting over a million electric cars on the road. There are no claims as to how many new models will be announced, or if they’ll simply update current models with electric powertrains. All that’s certain is that Volvo is committed to going fully electric well ahead of any other manufacturer.
