Electrified Cars From Volvo & Cupra That May Or May Not Come To America

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Volvo and Cupra this week introduced new electrical — or electrified — fashions that may very well be obtainable to US drivers — if the cockamamie commerce conflict cooked up by America’s flailing president doesn’t maintain them away. For years, Volvo has had two SUV choices, the XC70 and the XC90. The XC90 now has a battery electrical cousin, the seven passenger EX90 which vastly impressed the World Car Awards jury not too long ago. Its mixture of a cushty and refined inside, superior security know-how, and distinctive Scandinavian design satisfied the panel of consultants to call it the Luxurious Automotive of the Yr.

New Volvo XC70 PHEV

On Might 7, 2025, Volvo unveiled a plug-in hybrid model of the midsize XC70, however it’s not a wimpy PHEV with 24 miles of battery-only vary. The XC70 PHEV is designed to faucet into the development in China of plug-in hybrids that truly have a major quantity of vary, a phase of the market now generally known as extended range EVsor EREVs.

In a press release, Volvo mentioned the XC70 PHEV gives a pure electrical vary of as much as 200 km (124 mi), making it Volvo’a longest vary plug-in hybrid thus far. That vary relies on the extremely optimistic Chinese language testing customary. Subtract about 25 % for an approximation of what its EPA rated vary is perhaps, however that’s nonetheless far longer than any plug-in hybrid presently bought within the US. It’s extra vary than early variations of the Nissan LEAF.

The automobile is constructed on Volvo’s new prolonged vary PHEV premium SMA platform. “The new XC70 is designed to meet the demand for longer range plug-in hybrids in China, where it will be available for order later this year. Volvo Cars is exploring potential additional markets at a later stage,” the corporate mentioned.

“The XC70 marks our strategic entry into the extended-range plug-in hybrid segment, a perfect bridge to full electrification,” mentioned Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief government of Volvo Vehicles. “It enables us to maintain and develop a balanced product portfolio, while offering a highly attractive alternative to customers who are not yet ready for fully electric cars. This is also an example of regionalization, where we adapt to the local market needs. Combined with its versatility that offers space and comfort for all passengers, the XC70 is a car for every type of journey.”

Car and Driver says the XC70 may very well be a “silver bullet for Volvo.” As automakers proceed on the lookout for respite from the Trump administration’s tariffs, many are eyeing potential manufacturing modifications. Within the case of Volvo, Samuelsson has mentioned he needs to extend manufacturing on the firm’s manufacturing facility in Ridgeville, South Carolina, by including a excessive quantity hybrid to the combo, based on a report by Automotive Information Europe. “It has to be a car with mild hybrid and plug-in versions to really bring up the volumes,” he mentioned.

Samuelsson instructed Automotive Information Europe that he plans to journey to the US quickly to talk with sellers about which car makes essentially the most sense so as to add. Manufacturing of the XC90 or XC60 is also shifted to Ridgeville.

The Volkswagen Angle

The market share of Volkswagen in America has been fairly dismal since Dieselgate. To deal with that challenge, Volkswagen Group has created a brand new division referred to as Scout Motors. It has mentioned all alongside it has no plans to market these automobiles — an SUV and pickup truck — by its US seller community, a transfer that has aggravated its sellers to no finish.

The probably clarification is that the diesel dishonest scandal broken the Volkswagen title a lot that persons are reluctant to do enterprise with these sellers. So the corporate needs to promote its new wares underneath a distinct model title and hopes folks don’t discover the autos are principally Volkswagens beneath the pores and skin. Dieselgate wasn’t the fault of sellers, however they’re taking the brunt of the backlash from it.

In keeping with studies, Scout Motors can also be considering climbing concerning the plug-in hybrid bandwagon. Throughout a Motor Trend podcast on February 13, 2025, Scout Motors CEO Scott Keogh shared some specs for the upcoming Scout Traveler SUV and Scout Terra pickup vans and mentioned Scout plans to supply pure electrical and prolonged vary variations of its autos.

The hybrid variations can be generally known as Harvester fashions — a nod to the roots of the Scout model that hint again to the Worldwide Harvest Firm that created the unique Scout autos. Keogh mentioned the Harvesters can have a battery capability of round 60 to 70 kilowatt-hours and can have a battery-only vary of about 150 miles.

Cupra seeks a foot in america

On Might 10, 2025, Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press wrote that Cupra — one other division of Volkswagen Group — can also be planning to sell its cars in the US. The report went on to say the corporate has already been in talks with Penske Automotive Group. Not solely is Penske the third largest seller group in the US, with about 200 retailers, but it surely additionally operates dealerships for dozens of manufacturers — together with Cupra — in Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the UK. “Cupra aims to inspire the United States from its hometown of Barcelona, bringing its design led and performance driven cars to American roads,” the corporate mentioned in a press release to the Free Press.

SEAT is a division of Volkswagen Group identified primarily as a producer of sensible, reasonably priced automobiles. In 2018, it created Cupra as a sporty sub-brand primarily for racing within the European rally circuit. It has thrived in recent times to the purpose the place there may be discuss that Volkswagen might permit SEAT to wither away and get replaced by the extra fashionable, worthwhile, and technically superior Cupra model.

If a foray into the US is tried, the Cupra automobiles provided on the market will concentrate on sporty, upscale EVs and hybrids, though some gasoline-powered fashions could also be included to prime the gross sales pump. “As the first new brand created within the Volkswagen Group, we offer an alternative to the next generation of US car buyers,” the corporate instructed the Free Press. “Positioned between the mass and premium segments, we are not based on legacy or tradition. We are an unconventional challenger brand.”

Cupra plans to start with gross sales in 20 states “strategically aligned with the Cupra brand,” which presumably means those who encourage EV gross sales with incentives and low emissions laws. Common readers will instantly see the challenges of such a gross sales technique. The lunatics answerable for the federal authorities right now are hell bent on forcing states to desert their low emissions targets, as a result of in some way making folks breathe extra crud is a dream of theirs.

As well as, federal incentives for electrical automobiles are underneath risk and new tariffs on automobiles not constructed within the US have been imposed not too long ago. To deal with the tariff challenge, Cupra says it may construct its autos on the Volkswagen manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, or Puebla, Mexico. It may additionally discover some area on the Scout Motors plant underneath building in South Carolina.

“Cupra is totally unknown to the US population,” Adam Bernard, principal of the AutoPerspectives consultancy, instructed the Free Press“(Cupra) is a blank slate. The brand doesn’t overlap with VW or Audi. Does VW want to spend a pile of money to establish an image for it?” S&P International principal automotive analyst Stephanie Brinley added that whereas Cupra has a decent following in lots of nations, the challenges of the US market can be tough to beat. The nation’s enormous measurement and inhabitants make it costly to determine a brand new model, each geographically and in buyers’ minds.

Whether or not Cupra involves the US or not, clearly Volkswagen is struggling to achieve traction within the US market. That Dieselgate fiasco was ten years in the past, however its ramifications are nonetheless occurring. Each Scout and Cupra have been speculated to be purveyors of cool electrical automobiles, however social warfare is holding again the EV Revolution in America. Including plug-in hybrids might or might not ring a bell with prospects.

Within the last evaluation, prospects within the US are being denied entry to one of the best new electrical or electrified fashions obtainable due to federal insurance policies. Conservative wackos are at all times thumping their chests and proclaiming the virtues of the free market, however then they institute insurance policies that restrict folks’s decisions, which is exactly what they at all times accuse others of doing. Hypocrisy is their inventory in commerce, however few appear to note they’re being flimflammed by these two-faced charlatans. Time to get up, America.