LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - A Volvo Cars Concept Recharge electric vehicle is displayed with Luminar’s Iris lidar integrated into the roofline at the Luminar booth at CES 2022 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 6, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
(Photo : Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Excitement is building for the release of Volvo's third electric car, with the Scandinavian automaker expected to launch the successor to its XC90 SUV later this year. The exact date of the car's release is not yet known, but it appears Volvo already has a name for its much-awaited vehicle.
Embla rumored to be the name of Volvo's new vehicle
Volvo has decided to go with a name for its new arrival instead of the traditional alphanumeric designation. Outgoing Volvo boss Håkan Samuelsson confirmed this development, saying that Volvo's new product will have a name that starts with a vowel.
The new vehicle might be called Embla after Volvo filed a trademark application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office for that name late last year. A spokesperson for Volvo refused to confirm or deny if Embla is indeed the new name for its electric car, but the rumblings are getting stronger that this will be the automaker's new offering.
So who or what in the world is Embla? This was the name of the first woman in Norse mythology. Volvo might be planning to use its Scandinavian heritage to name the future models in its fleet.
Volvo's new vehicle is a production-ready version of the Concept Recharge shown earlier this year. This will signal Volvo's entry into the full-size electric SUV market, a segment that most premium-oriented carmakers have focused on with their initial electric vehicle offerings in recent years. Volvo has two existing pure EVs on its fleet, but the coupé-backed C40 Recharge and the XC40 Recharge both use a similar CMA platform as the XC40 and sit a segment lower than the SUV.
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Volvo looks to make electric equivalent of XC90 another best-seller
On the other hand, Volvo's replacement for the XC90 will use the brand's new SPA2 platform, a technology that will help the vehicle accommodate a selection of combustion and pure-electric powertrains. This is ground-breaking stuff for Volvo as the XC90 successor will be the first of its vehicles to use the new underpinnings.
Based on what the company showed with the Concept Recharge, Volvo's new flagship electric vehicle will retain the main characteristics of the XC90 that made it one of the company's most popular cars. The vehicle will continue to focus on space and practicality while also utilizing new technologies for Volvo's biggest model.
Volvo is banking on its new electric vehicle to be a strong seller like the XC90. The second-generation vehicle remains popular among consumers, accounting for around 6.5 percent of the company's sales in the first ten months of 2021. That is simply remarkable considering the XC90 has been on the market for several years now, with the SUV heading for its seventh and final year on sale.
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