Which car brands are going all-electric – and when?

UPDATED 19/07/2024 4:00pm: Tesla is the poster child of the electric car revolution.

The American car-maker has shaken up the automotive industry over the past decade as the first – and still by far the biggest – exclusively all-electric global vehicle manufacturer.

But things are about to change over the course of the next decade due to a number of forces all colliding together.

Battery technology is improving at such a rapid rate and production costs are coming down that EVs are forecast to be on par with conventional vehicles in terms of driving range and price by 2025.

Natural demand for battery-electric vehicles is also growing as sustainability becomes a more conscious lifestyle choice.

And government regulations are putting a noose around the neck of emission outputs that could make it impossible for combustion-engined vehicles to be sold in some countries.

Because of these factors, Tesla won’t be the only all-electric international car giant within the next few years, with some of the oldest and most traditional brands committing to a battery-powered future.

Bigger, more mainstream car-makers, from Toyota to Subaru and BMW to Mercedes-Benz, have outlined plans to drastically increase their EV inventory over the same timeframe, but the following brands have promised to go all in and challenge Tesla to help save the planet – and hopefully shore up their future.

Alfa Romeo has been attempting to revive itself for decades now. Most recently, the famous Italian marque wanted to go head-to-head with its German rivals and spent billions developing the Giorgio platform that underpinned the new Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV range.

As good as they are, it hasn’t worked as well as they hoped.

Now, with the formation of Stellantis following the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group, Alfa Romeo is talking about another revival plan in which it will only launch EVs from 2025, before Alfa offers a 100 per cent EV range by 2027.

Renault’s high-performance sub-brand will become fully electric by the end of the decade with plans to replace the critically acclaimed Alpine A110S with a battery-powered sports car that will be co-developed alongside Lotus.

Alpine has also assumed the responsibility for the development of all future Renault Sport models, indicating the next-gen Renault Clio RS and Megane RS will remain as electrifying as they are today – in a different way!

Aston Martin announced as long ago as 2018 that it would revive its Lagonda nameplate as an all-electric sub-brand for uber-opulent limousines and SUVs. But then it cancelled it.

Then, as part of an updated product plan developed by new boss (and former Mercedes-AMG head honcho) Tobias Moers, Lagonda was put back on the agenda with a likely debut before the end of the decade.

But in February 2024, Aston Martin officially canceled its Lagonda plans and pushed back the launch of its first EV by two years to 2027.

The British brand previously said it would "fully electrify" its entire range by 2030, but in April 2024 its chairman Lawrence Stroll said it would continue selling combustion vehicles for as long as it was legally allowed, as well as a new range of plug-in hybrid models beyond 2035.

Audi has been making serious headway into the electric car landscape with its ever-growing range of Audi e-tron models, and the German car-maker recently confirmed it intends to release its last combustion-engined model in 2026. That suggests the Volkswagen Group luxury brand will go all-EV at least in some markets soon afterwards, although Audi is yet to announce that.

The luxury of silence has been a hallmark of Bentleys for decades, so it was inevitable that the luxurious British car-maker would adopt some form of electrification.

But, just last year, Bentley went a step further and confirmed that its entire line-up would be exclusively plug-in hybrids by 2026 and completely battery-electric by 2030.

Citroen revealed its latest future product plan earlier this year under the title ‘Electric for Everyone’, which confirmed the French car-maker will offer an electrified version of every model in its range by 2025.

Like its sister brand Alfa Romeo, Fiat will also become a fully electric division of the newly-created Stellantis group by 2030, it was announced earlier this year.

The transition has already begun with the latest incarnation of the Fiat 500 city car exclusively offered as an EV in Europe, with plans to phase out combustion engines from 2025.

As one of the world’s automotive powerhouses, Ford is investing billions in electric vehicle development.

While it has already created cutting-edge models like the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the upcoming Ford F-150 Lightning, the Blue Oval has yet to commit to becoming a fully electric brand across the globe.

However, Ford of Europe has pledged that its entire passenger car fleet will be fully electric by 2030.

American giant General Motors, which produces brands such as Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC, is charging towards an electrified future with the born-again Hummer brand and individual models such as the Chevrolet Bolt small hatch.

But it won’t stop there. It’s promised to end production of all petrol- and diesel-powered cars, SUVs and trucks by 2035 and become carbon neutral by 2040, with plans to use 100 per cent renewable energy power sources across its entire manufacturing footprint.

Hyundai's premium sister brand promised to go all-EV by 2025 back in 2021, when the Korean luxury brand has also committed to offering no fewer than eight pure-electric models on sale by 2030, not including fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

But in July 2024 it pushed back those plans, citing slowing EV demand and the increasing popularity of hybrids. Genesis now says it will introduce as many hybrid models as possible, before switching back to its EV-only plan at a later date.

GWM Haval has announced its intention to cease production of combustion-powered vehicles as of 2030, and for battery-electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles account for 80 per cent of its global sales by 2025.

Honda, which has been a pioneer of both hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) development, has pledged to transform itself into a zero-emissions brand by 2040.

The Japanese car-maker has outlined a staged approach that includes both battery-electric and FCEV models, some of which will be co-developed with General Motors.

Jaguar shocked the establishment when it announced earlier this year that it would transform its entire range into battery-electric vehicles as soon as 2025.

The iconic British car-maker has dipped its toe into the pond with the stunning Jaguar I-PACE, but now plans to quickly build a family of electric SUVs while likely merging the XE and XF sedans into one model.

Toyota's luxury brand has only just released its first plug-in and first EV models in Australia, but that hasn't stopped it promising to offer only electrified vehicles by 2030, and to go all-electric for its entire range globally, although not until 2035.

The iconic British sports car brand last launched an all-new car, the Lotus Evora, more than a decade ago and was struggling to survive.

Now, since it was purchased by China’s Geely – the same corporation that has revived Volvo – Lotus has been given a massive cash injection that promises to relaunch the brand as an electric-only proposition.

If the drop-dead gorgeous Lotus Evija hypercar is any indication of where Lotus is heading, we say ‘Bring it on!’

Even the most traditional car-makers cannot ignore the shift away from big and loud combustion engines, and Maserati was one of the first sports-luxury brands to commit to an electrified future when it confirmed in 2020 that its entire range of vehicles would be either plug-in or fully electric by 2025.

First cab off Maserati's EV rank will be the new-generation 2022 Maserati GranTurismo and it will be followed by a battery-powered Grecale medium SUV and EV versions of the new Levante SUV and Quattroporte limousine, on the way to Maserati becoming an EV-only brand by 2030.

Mercedes-Benz said back in 2021 that EVs and hybrids would account for 50 per cent of its sales by 2025, and that it would sell only EVs in selected markets by 2030. But in February 2024 it walked the first target back by five years to 2030 for electrified vehicles being half of its sales, due to slower than expected EV sales.

At the same time the German car-maker said would no longer be a 100 per cent all-electric car-maker by 2030, even in Europe, and that it would continue to develop and produce combustion engine technology well into the next decade, with a new range of ICE vehicles from 2027.

MINI

It makes perfect sense, as BMW’s most urbanised sub-brand, that MINI will become purely electric by the end of the decade.

Announced earlier this year, MINI plans to transition its entire range to plug-in hybrids from 2025 before deleting the combustion engine completely by 2030.

In line with its related brands, Citroen and Fiat, under the umbrella of the Stellantis group, Peugeot has already confirmed that its entire model range will be offered as either hybrid or fully electric by 2025.

Volkswagen has been leading the charge on EVs, particularly in Europe, in the wake of the Dieselgate scandal, and recently indicated that it plans to cull all new petrol and diesel combustion-engined cars in Europe by 2035.

But other markets such as the US, China and Australia will take longer.

The moves are in line with looming Euro 7 emissions regulations that will force manufacturers to speed up development of electrified vehicle technology or face harsh penalties for exceeding CO2 limits.

Just as it did with safety, Volvo has been a leading force in the race to become fully electrified.

It stated in 2020 that all its vehicles will be either hybrid or EV by 2025 and that it will phase out combustion engines entirely by 2030.

Meantime Down Under, Volvo has declared it will only sell battery-electric vehicles in Australia from 2026 – four years earlier than the global edict from the Swedish brand.