Volvo became an unlikely tech superpower when no one was watching

Volvo XC90

When you think of high-tech cars, you probably think of Tesla or BMW.

But there’s another automaker that is quietly becoming one of the industry’s most tech-centric brands: Volvo.

For years, the Swedish car company has been at the forefront of introducing the latest safety tech into its vehicles.

But the car company’s tech savviness extends beyond just its safety systems. Volvo is also investing in technology and partnerships that will make its cars more convenient, efficient, and autonomous.

The company's latest move includes its pledge that all new Volvo cars will either be fully electric or hybrid by 2019.

Here’s a closer look at how Volvo is quietly becoming one of the leading car companies in auto tech.

Volvo is going all in on electrified cars.

By 2025, Volvo aims to sell one million electrified vehicles. To help it meet this goal, the company plans to only sell fully electric and hybrid cars starting in 2019.

Volvo also plans to offer a plug-in hybrid version of every model, the company said.

Volvo plans to roll out its first fully electric car in 2019.

Volvo said in a press statement in April that its first fully electric car will be based on its Compact Modular Architecture (CMA), which is the platform the carmaker will use for its smaller 40-Series vehicles.

However, it is not clear whether Volvo will actually use the CMA platform for its first electric car, or if it will introduce another new platform that is even smaller.

The company also said in April that it will manufacture the vehicle in China and ship it around the world.

While details about the vehicle are still sparse, the company has revealed that it will have a range of about 250 miles per charge and price between $35,000 to $40,000, according to a report from Automotive News.

In total, the company will launch five fully electric vehicles between 2019 and 2021.

Volvo has said that three of these vehicles will be Volvo models and two will be Polestar vehicles, which are cars made by Volvo's performance division.

At least one of the three Volvo models is being developed on the company's Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), which is the same platform the company uses for its full-sized vehicles, like the XC90.

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