Volvo's Tesla Model 3 Fighter Coming Sooner Than We Thought

Volvo has gone from building safe, unbreakable machines to being a leader in the realms of luxury, safety, and electrification. The brand has even foregone performance-hunting almost exclusively, capping thetop speed of its cars to 112 mphand turning the Polestar performance arm into a standalone sub-brand building EVs like thePolestar 1and Polestar 2. But Volvo itself has also committed to electrification, launching the all-electricXC40 Rechargein the USA as a 2021 model and heavily punting its plug-in hybrid options. But a report from Cars UK suggests we'll see a second battery electric vehicle (BEV) from the Swedish marque in March of 2021.

According to the report, it will share the brand's CMA platform, which underpins the XC40 and another electric car - the Polestar 2. It seems likely that the Polestar 2 will serve as the foundation of the new Volvo model, and the report suggests it will fill the void left by the V40 - a compact hatchback from the brand previously sold outside of the US. The V40's wagon-like body style won't return, but the lifted-sedan design of the Polestar 2 would be a fair candidate for the revival of the name. This fits in with previous concepts from Volvo, theVolvo 40.2 Concept, which debuted alongside the 40.1 Concept that eventually became the production XC40.

Considering Volvo's history of putting concept cars into production, either as Volvo or Polestar products, the signs are promising.

Utilizing the Polestar 2 as a foundation, it's fair to assume the same 402-horsepower, 487-lb-ft electric powertrain could be used, granting the new model the samedisappointing 233-mile EPA rangeas the Polestar 2 has. However, we wouldn't be surprised to see Volvo offer a less powerful powertrain option, perhaps a single-motor rear-wheel-drive application that could travel further. We'll know more come March but if the rumor is true, we'll likely see a drip-feed of new information and teasers coming to light between now and then.