Say what you like about Volvo, whose vehicles are famously safe but boring, its staff certainly know how to write a press release. On Wednesday, the Swedish auto-maker declared the end of the “solely combustion engine-powered car” and trumpeted how from 2019 all of its cars will have an electric motor. 
 
 To be clear, that doesn’t mean Volvo -- owned by China's Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. -- is about to do away entirely with petrol or diesel engines, nor will it sell only fully electric cars, a la Tesla Inc. 
 
 While Volvo does plan several battery-electric models, many of its vehicles will still have a combustion engine. The difference is that, from 2019, all will be assisted by an electric motor to make them more fuel-efficient. So-called "mild-hybrid systems" use an electric motor to support propulsion from a combustion engine, whereas "plug-in hybrids" let a car run fully in electric mode for a while. Volvo will sell both. 
 
 Volvo’s announcement is environmentally pleasing, but its suppliers are probably the biggest winners. Cars that need both combustion engines and electric motors are a win-win for the autos supply chain because there’s potential to contribute a lot more technology in each vehicle. 
 
 Take France's Valeo SA, which thinks the stuff it supplies for the powertrain of a high-voltage, plug-in hybrid is nine times more valuable than in a regular car. For pure electric vehicles, it's just seven times as much. That’s not bad either, but it suggests hybrids -- which last year made up about 2 percent of Europe's car sales -- are the supplier sweet-spot. 
 
 This extra sales opportunity is one reason Valeo shares trade on almost 14 times earnings and Germany's Continental AG fetches almost 12 times. In contrast, prestigious customers such as BMW AG and Daimler AG trade on barely half that. 
 
 Electrified Suppliers Automaker stocks have lagged behind the supplier base Source: Bloomberg 
 
 There’s a catch, though. While a few golden years beckons for suppliers, the plug-in hybrid era probably won’t last too long. From a cost perspective, it’s a bit daft to have both an electric motor and a combustion engine in the car. 
 
 Berenberg analysts think electric powertrains could be priced the same as hybrids by about 2021 and will be as cheap as combustion engines by 2025. Indeed, Volkswagen AG says as many as one-quarter of its sales will be fully electric by 2025. That's when some of the hybrid magic might wear off. Suppliers could face new rivals and carmakers may decide to bring more powertrain work in-house, if only to give employees who built combustion engines something to do. 
 
 Technologies like fuel-injection and exhaust systems, which suppliers build for petrol and diesel vehicles, will become obsolete too (see my recent piece on Germany's Schaeffler AG). 
 
 So hybrids look destined for a far shorter lifespan than the world-changing combustion engine. Suppliers may look back at Volvo's announcement as the very best of times. 
 
 This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. 
 
 (A previous version of this story was updated to include the name of Volvo's owner, Geely.) ||||| Volvo, the auto maker that spent 90 years polishing a reputation for safety, indicated Wednesday it is mounting an ambitious challenge to Tesla Inc.’s electric cars. 
 
 But the even tougher news for Tesla’s billionaire founder, Elon Musk, is that the Scandinavian company isn’t the only deep-pocketed rival planning to compete with the Silicon Valley pioneer. Nearly all global vehicle makers are mounting their own electric-car push, powered by ever-cheaper prices for batteries, stricter emissions rules and lucrative government... ||||| Image copyright Getty Images 
 
 Volvo's announcement certainly electrified the internet. The Chinese-owned carmaker caused great excitement on Wednesday when it said that every vehicle it launches from 2019 will have an electric motor. 
 
 This, it added, marked a "historic end of cars that have only an internal combustion engine". 
 
 There is no doubt that the car industry is changing at speed. From electric vehicles, to self-driving technology, to investments in ride-sharing and taxi companies, carmakers are trying to get a toehold in areas that have the potential to upend the automotive sector in the coming years. 
 
 But it isn't clear that Volvo's latest move presents a big acceleration in the pace of change. 
 
 How electric is electric? 
 
 The BBC's Theo Leggett points out that all the car companies are responding to tighter emissions standards that will apply across their fleets from 2021. Introducing electric or partly electric vehicles can only help with that. 
 
 Indeed, Volvo already offers a plug-in hybrid option for its top of the range models, like the XC90. Other car companies are heading in the same direction. Jaguar Land Rover last year said it expects up to 50% of its range to be electrified by 2020. 
 
 It is also worth asking just how electric we are talking. Volvo said it would introduce a "portfolio of electrified cars across its model range, embracing fully electric cars, plug-in hybrid cars and mild-hybrid cars". That covers a wide range of outcomes. 
 
 Mild hybrids are essentially a standard car, typically with a petrol engine. But they have a larger battery which can help at low speeds. The battery is a booster for the engine, improving efficiency. But it only works at low speeds and for short distances - think of it as a helping hand as you pull away from the lights in a built-up, busy area. 
 
 One large car company puts the fuel economy benefit for mild hybrids at about 6%, around towns and cities where it is most likely to be used. That is a far cry from the fully electric future espoused by Tesla, and other car companies. 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images 
 
 Fully electric vehicles remain expensive, both for carmakers and for customers. Meanwhile, a range of 250 to 300 miles still provides challenges. 
 
 That is one reason the industry is also focused on so-called plug-in hybrids. These have an electric engine that can travel perhaps 50-60 miles, before a traditional petrol or diesel engine takes over. The trouble here, as with standard hybrids, is that the extra weight from the engines makes the car quite inefficient when it reverts to burning fossil fuels. 
 
 Money 
 
 Ultimately, lift-off for electric vehicles boils down to costs. Most electric vehicles are still loss-making for the carmakers, and more expensive for car buyers. Widespread adoption relies on lower energy and maintenance costs balancing a higher sticker price for the buyer (where the carmaker also makes some profit). 
 
 Analysts at UBS recently upped their forecast for sales of electric vehicles, on the basis that this cost parity can be achieved earlier than expected. They see sales really picking up from 2020, forecasting that by 2025 electric vehicle sales could account for 14% of the car market. 
 
 Given that emissions standards are only pushing the industry in one direction, carmakers have every incentive to promote electric vehicles (or vehicles with a part electric option). Greater volumes will start to reduce costs. 
 
 There is another important factor in terms of how quickly the electric future arrives. Remember Nissan: In last year's discussions with the UK government after the vote to leave the European Union, the Japanese company had a particular set of concerns around further investment in its huge Sunderland plant. 
 
 As a "global leader in electric cars" it wanted changes to help the roll-out of charging stations, as well as tax incentives to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles. Those were areas where the government swiftly acted. 
 
 As much as anything, the point at which electric vehicles really motor will be determined by governments. ||||| As analysts weigh in on Volvo’s electric and hybrid vehicle plans—with a mix of reactions ranging from skeptical and “meh” to cautious optimism and even enthusiasm— the news prompted at least one to conclude that it doesn’t bode well for Tesla. Or at the very least should provide a wake-up call to the company and its shareholders. 
 
 Tesla believers will likely view Volvo’s declaration that every new car made in 2019 and beyond will have an electric motor as a validation of CEO Elon Musk’s vision of a future of sustainable, electric transportation, Barclays auto analyst Brian A. Johnson wrote in a research note Wednesday. 
 
 Johnson takes a different, and darker, view, saying it provides more evidence (especially after a recent visit to China) that “Tesla will face intense competition by next decade” from legacy automakers who are expanding their electric options. 
 
 Johnson makes three points that he describes as “reality checks” on Tesla’s valuation. His main points: 
 
 While Tesla might have a lead in battery costs, at least outside of China, other scale advantages of legacy automakers likely means the cost-per-vehicle advantage will not be meaningful. (Johnson did admit that Tesla is well ahead on key tech components such as software, Big Data, and the ability to improve performance and fix bugs via “over-the-air” software updates.) Tesla faces competition not just from pure all-electrics, but from hybrids. Johnson notes that nearly every major automakers is planning to roll out 48-volt hybrids and many may offer plug-in hybrids. China’s competitive environment is “stacked against Tesla” even though regulatory pressures there makes it a prime market for electric and plug-in electric vehicles. His argument: plug-in hybrids and low-end EVs are “vastly more popular” than Tesla, local regulations favors local companies, a flood of cheap Chinese batteries will negate any advantages from the multi-billion battery factory Tesla is building near Reno, Nev. 
 
 Of course, Musk’s reaction to all of this will likely follow previous comments about automakers deciding to produce electric vehicles: the more, the merrier. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| While one of the Tesla Model 3’s goals is to make electric cars competitive with gas-powered cars before EV incentives, some US-based reservation holders are still counting on the $7,500 federal tax credit to buy the vehicle. 
 
 Tesla recently updated its guidance for the rollout of the vehicle and we take a quick look at how it could affect access to the federal tax credit. 
 
 As we previously reported, the $7,500 federal tax credit starts to phase out after an automaker hits 200,000 rebates. 
 
 The tax credit program states that the phase-out period starts during the second calendar quarter after the calendar quarter in which it reached the cap – meaning that customers will still receive the full $7,500 tax credit for at least a full quarter. In other words, people will still get the full credit for 3 to 6 months after they hit the mark. 
 
 After that, the tax credit is reduced by 50% for 6 months and then another 50% for another 6 months before being completely phased out. 
 
 The whole process makes the timing of Tesla delivering its 200,000th vehicle in the US very important. Earlier this year, we reported on Tesla reaching 100,000 vehicles in the US. 
 
 It’s difficult to predict when Tesla will hit 200,000 vehicles, but it looks unlikely that it will be by the end of the year with Elon Musk’s updated guidance for early Model 3 production. 
 
 Earlier this week, Musk said that they plan to deliver the first 30 units at an event at the end of the month and scale to 100 units in August, 1,500 units in September, and they aim for a production rate of 20,000 units in December, which is the most important thing. 
 
 The production rate at the moment they hit 200,000 vehicles determines how many people can still benefit from federal tax credit during the first phase-out period. 
 
 If Tesla sticks to Musk’s guidance for the Model 3 production ramp up and deliveries stay concentrated in the US, it looks like the phase-out would start during the first quarter 2018. 
 
 That’s where things start to get interesting because in order to optimize the number of people benefiting from federal tax credit, Tesla would try to hit the mark early in the quarter or wait for the next, and concentrate Model 3 production in the US during that period, which could result in pushing deliveries in other countries. 
 
 But if Musk is right and they can be at 20,000 Model 3 vehicles per month by December, it could solve most of the problems and they could work through most of Tesla’s Model 3 backlog in the US with the federal tax credit available. 
 
 Either way, it looks like US-based Model 3 buyers should have access to at least half of the $7,500 federal tax credit throughout 2018 and likely the entire credit for most of the year. 
 
 Featured Image: Two Tesla Model 3 prototypes spotted at a CCS/CHAdeMO charging station – Picture by Addison Conzet ||||| Electric cars are transforming the auto industry much in the same way these juiced-up vehicles drive: You don't hear them coming -- until suddenly they're by you. 
 
 Volvo's ambitious plan to offer electric engines across its entire fleet highlights just how fast traditional carmakers are plugging in, even as sales of all-electric and hybrid vehicles in the U.S. remain fairly modest. But with Tesla (TSLA) recently cruising by Ford (F) and nip-and-tuck with General Motors (GM) as America's largest automaker by market value, the stodgy combustion engine is showing its age. 
 
 If you needed a blaring highway billboard that the venerable pistons-valves-gasoline era is waning, Volvo hoisted it for all to see on Wednesday, with its announcement that starting in 2019, its full lineup will have some kind of electric motor. 
 
 Volvo plans to launch five fully electric cars between 2019 and 2021, three of which will be sold under the Volvo brand and two high-performance models to be marketed under the company's luxury Polestar brand. Additional details about the vehicles will be announced at a later date. 
 
 The automaker also plans to provide a range of gasoline and diesel plug-in hybrids and mild hybrids, which Volvo said would be one of the "broadest electrified car offerings of any carmaker." The Swedish automaker, which was acquired by China's Geely Holding Group in 2010, has been developing electric vehicles for the past few years, such as a variant of its C30 hatchback and a hybrid-diesel version of its V60 station wagon. 
 
 Volvo sold a record 534,332 vehicles last year, and it expects to sell 1 million electrified vehicles in less than a decade. 
 
 "Frankly, it costs a lot of money to develop an electric vehicle," said Brett Smith of the Center for Automotive Research. "It's technology they're developing from scratch, which means a whole lot of R&D investment." 
 
 Other automakers are increasingly weaning themselves off gasoline-powered engines. 
 
 Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler on Wednesday also announced plans to invest 5 billion Chinese renminbi ($740 million) in a battery plant in China that it will run with China-based BAIC. The partners plan to sell electric vehicles under the Mercedes brand name by 2020. 
 
 Green vehicle demand is already booming in China. Forecasts are calling for sales of 580,000 units in 2017, an increase of 58 percent from 2016, even though the Chinese government eased up on subsidies. 
 
 "Many of the luxury brands are going to move in this direction over time just because their consumers really demands performance, said Smith. "In China right now, there is an enormous amount of enthusiasm for electrification." 
 
 Volvo also is being spurred by the success of Elon Musk's Tesla, which has a market valuation of $52.4 billion, topping Ford's (F) $46 billion and Fiat Chrysler's (FCAU) $16 billion, while GM's is just about $54 billion. Tesla shares, however, were punished on Wednesday (down 7.2 percent, or $25.53, to $327.09), amid worries about lower-than-expected sales of its Model S cars and Model X SUV caused by constrained supplies of batteries. 
 
 Analysts are now also worried about competition from Volvo and others. German luxury brand BMW expects to deliver 100,000 electrified vehicles this year. It also plans to debut a new i8 roadster in 2018, a fully electric Mini in 2019 and a fully electric X3 in 2020. Japanese automaker Honda (HMC) and partner Hitachi recently formed an electric vehicle joint venture, while Toyota (TM) has sold more than 10 million hybrids since 1997. 
 
 The Big 3 U.S. automakers are also pouring money into electric vehicles. GM this year began selling the Chevrolet Bolt for about $35,000 before government subsidies. Ford plans to spend $4.5 billion over the next five years on 13 new electric vehicles, including hybrid versions of its Mustang muscle car and F-150 pickup. 
 
 Meanwhile, Fiat Chrysler has announced plans for hybrid versions of some models such as the Pacifica minivan, though it has yet to unveil an electric-only vehicle. 
 
 Regardless, as Volvo has just demonstrated, the road ahead for carmakers looks increasingly electrified.
– Volvo made big headlines Wednesday when it became the first traditional automaker to announce that all of its cars would be at least partially electric in 2019. The trend away from old-school engines may seem inevitable, but the Wall Street Journal has a sobering stat for electric advocates: Less than 1% of the more than 17.5 million vehicles sold in the US last year were all-electric. That probably won't change unless gas prices rise, charging stations multiply, and government subsidies remain in place. Other developments: Overhyped? The BBC notes that Volvo promised a "portfolio of electrified cars across its model range, embracing fully electric cars, plug-in hybrid cars, and mild-hybrid cars." That's a little vague. Hybrids still use combustion engines, so it's not all that clear just how "electric" the company will be in 2019. "Mild hybrids" in particular are essentially standard cars whose engines get the occasional boost from an electric motor. Look out, Tesla: Still, this is a sign that Tesla, which rolls out a more affordable all-electric model on Friday, will face "intense competition by next decade" from legacy auto companies, writes a Barclays analyst, per Fortune. He lays out the reasons why, including hybrids sold by other automakers. (Tesla has lost $10 billion in valuation over the last two weeks, notes Quartz.) Transition: Hybrids may indeed be big sellers in the next five years or so, but don't expect the trend to last long term. The reason is simple: "From a cost perspective, it's a bit daft to have both an electric motor and a combustion engine in the car," writes Chris Bryant at Bloomberg. That tax credit: Buyers of electric cars are likely counting on a $7,500 federal tax credit, but a post at Electrek makes a key point: The credit starts being phased out once a particular automaker hits the 200,000-vehicle mark. For Tesla, it's doubtful that would happen by the end of the year, but potential buyers will want to pay attention in 2018. China's role: An analyst at Autotrader tells the Washington Post that Chinese ownership of Volvo likely played a big role in the shift. The Chinese market is obviously huge, as are concerns there about air pollution. US automakers: Despite the caveats, Volvo's move shows that the "road ahead for carmakers looks increasingly electrified," writes Jonathan Berr at CBS Money Watch. That includes the Big Three in the US: GM has its $35,000 Chevy Bolt, Ford has 13 new electric vehicles in the works, and Fiat Chrysler is planning hybrid versions of the Pacifica minivan and other models.