The first ELECTRIC Volvo will be made in China and exported globally

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It’s reported that the first electric Volvo – due by 2019 – will be built in China alongside the Lynk & Co 01 and Volvo’s new XC40.

Volvo’s push this year is centered around the arrival of the new XC60 – which has already been revealed – and the all new compact Volvo XC40, which will be revealed later this year.

But next up from Volvo will be the arrival of the first BEV as Volvo aim to put a million EVs (a number which includes plug-in hybrids) on the road by 2025.

We already have a clue as to where the new BEV will fit in Volvo’s range, as we know it is going to cost around £35k when it arrives, which puts it firmly in the compact class.

We’d always assumed it would be an electrified version of the new XC40, but Volvo are talking about a new platform and a new model as the basis for the first EV, although it would seem more likely that new platform will be a modification of the CMA platform which underpins Volvo’s new compact cars, rather than an all-new one.

That thought is based around the fact that the Volvo 40.1 and 40.2 Concepts – the concept take on the new XC40 and S40/V40 – were both electrified, with the V40/S40 having a pure BEV powertrain.

But whatever the model is, a new one or an electrified version of a new 40 Series, it seems it will be built in China.

Automotive News are reporting that Volvo will announce that their new BEV will be built alongside the XC40 and Lynk & Co 01 at Volvo’s plant in Luqiao, China, and that the official announcement will come at the Shanghai Motor Show next week.

That will mean a second Volvo – following on from the new S90 – will be built in China for export globally as Volvo moves to make China a global production centre delivering around one third of their total annual production by 2020.