Volvo pegs EV range at 250 miles

GENEVA -- Volvo's first-ever electric vehicle will likely have a range of at least 250 miles and a price starting between $35,000 and $40,000 when it debuts in 2019.

Lex Kerssemakers, CEO of Volvo Car USA, said so in comments with U.S. journalists on the sidelines of the Geneva auto show.

"That's what I put in as the prerequisite for the United States," Kerssemakers said. "If I want to make a point in the United States, if I want to make volumes, that's what I believe I need."

That vehicle's form remains unknown; the company is set to decide in the coming months whether it will use an existing nameplate or a standalone model for its first EV. Regardless, this leaves Volvo with a dramatically condensed timetable in which to develop the vehicle and get it to market.

Kerssemakers acknowledged the time crunch but said using Volvo's modular platforms would allow it to meet this schedule.

Volvo's larger SPA platform underpins the current XC90 crossover, its 90 series sedan and wagons, and the redesigned XC60 that debuted this year in Geneva.

The next-generation S60 sedan will also use SPA. The automaker's smaller CMA platform will carry the XC40 compact crossover due on sale in early 2018.

Regardless of the vehicle's size, U.S. consumers won't be persuaded to go electric unless EVs have far more electric range than they actually need, Kerssemakers said. "Why are people reluctant to buy a full electric car?" he said. "It's between the ears. It's that they believe there's not sufficient range."