XC40 Recharge leads electric brigade

Future Volvo customers will need to answer one fundamental question: do you want a new Volvo with a cord or without one?

Last week Volvo Cars introduces the XC40 Recharge, the company’s first ever fully electric car and the first model to appear in its brand new Recharge car line concept.

The XC40 Recharge, based on the multi-award-winning and best-selling XC40 small SUV, is the first of a family of fully electric Volvos. It represents a true milestone for Volvo Cars: the company’s first electric car and the first Volvo with a brand new infotainment system powered by Google’s Android operating system.

Over the next five years, Volvo Cars will launch a fully electric car every year, as it seeks to make all-electric cars 50% of global sales by 2025, with the rest hybrids. Recharge will be the overarching name for all chargeable Volvos with a fully electric and plug-in hybrid powertrain.

From early 2020 customers entering the Volvo Cars website will first be asked whether they want a Volvo Recharge car or not. To further encourage electric driving, every Volvo Recharge plug-in hybrid model will come with free electricity for a year, provided through a refund for the average electricity cost during that period.

“We have said this several times before: for Volvo Cars, the future is electric,” said Hakan Samuelsson, chief executive. “We take a major new step in that direction with the launch of our fully electric XC40 and the Recharge car line.”

The XC40 Recharge is everything customers expect from a Volvo, with the addition of a state-of-the-art, fully electric all-wheel drive powertrain that offers a range of over 400km on a single charge and output of 408hp.

The battery charges to 80% of its capacity in 40 minutes on a fast-charger system.

The Android-powered infotainment system is fully integrated with Volvo On Call, the company’s digital connected services platform. Via Volvo On Call plugin hybrid drivers can track how much time they spend driving on electric power.

No information on the Volvo Recharge line-up’s availability in South Africa has been announced yet. – Own Correspondent