Volvo has unveiled the C40 Recharge all-electric Coupe SUV in the international market which will soon go on sale exclusively online. The Volvo C40 Recharge is the brand’s latest car that shows its commitment to a zero-emission future. The brand reveals that it is making the C40 Recharge available to order only via the digital sales network in a bid to reduce the complexities in its model offering and to focus on the pre-selected trims, which Volvo Cars claims to have been simplified for the Volvo C40 Recharge customer. The Volvo C40 Recharge will be built alongside the XC40 Recharge at the Volvo Cars Ghent manufacturing facility in Belgium. The production of the C40 Recharge will begin in September this year.
Design & Styling
The Volvo C40 Recharge is based on the CMA vehicle platform and comes with a lower and sleeker design of a Coupe but all the benefits of an SUV. While the front of the C40 Recharge comes with a typical blanked-out grille design for aero optimization the C40 Recharge gets state-of-the-art pixel-technology LED headlamps, a geometrical lower bumper with fog lights flanking the wide air dam and enclosed in a gloss black applique, rounded wheel arches, black-out roof, black-out A- and B- pillars, a sloping roofline that ends far into the rear deck, a sharply raked rear windscreen, a striking rear-end design with Volvo signature LED taillamp design and large machine-cut alloy wheels with aero optimisation to lower the drag coefficient and improve the range.
Interiors
The Volvo C40 Recharge comes with a minimalist approach on the inside and gets a typical Volvo SUV layout with an etched applique on the dashboard fascia, a vertically oriented touchscreen infotainment system in the centre jointly developed with Google and comes with an Android operating system that offers built-in features such as Google Maps, Google Assistant and the Google Play Store, Over-The-Air software updates, Harmon/Kardon speaker system, fully digital instruments cluster with navigation features, control mounted steering wheel, a high seating position and a range of interior colour & trim options unique to the C40 Recharge. The brand also claims that the C40 Recharge will be the first Volvo model to be completely leather-free.
Powertrain
Powering the C40 Recharge are twin electric motors, one on the front and one on the rear axle, that draw power from a 78kWh battery pack that is capable of returning a range of around 420 km on a single charge according to the WLTP driving cycle under controlled conditions. But real-world figures may vary as the final certification is still pending. Charging time takes about 40 minutes to achieve 80% state of charge and the brand claims that the figures will improve overtime through over-the-air updates.
