Photo: Volvo
Exactly one year ago, Swedish carmaker Volvo announced the launch of the XC40 Recharge, the first electric SUV in a long line of EVs that is supposed to account by 2025 for half the sales of the brand. Now, we get word of the production lines for the model beginning to roll.
In the year that has passed, Volvo says it had strong customer demand, and every car on the production roster this year already has a customer waiting – of course, we are not told how many that is.
“Today is a momentous occasion for Volvo Cars and for all employees here in Ghent,” said in a statement Javier Varela, head of global industrial operations and quality. “As we continue to electrify our line-up, the Ghent plant is a real trailblazer for our global manufacturing network.”
So, what is the XC40 Recharge? If you were expecting an EV on a dedicated platform, that’s not the case. The SUV is in fact built on the same hardware as the regular XC40, but with its ICE entrails replaced by an electric powertrain.
In this case we’re talking about a 78 kWh battery suitable for a range of 400 km (248 miles) and capable of recharging to 80 percent capacity from a fast-charging system in 40 minutes. Forward motion is ensured by means of two electric motors generating 408 hp and 660 Nm of torque.
What is perhaps more interesting about it is that the car’s infotainment system runs the latest Android software, making the EV the first Volvo to deploy it. Also, this is the first Volvo car to use a new suite of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), developed by the carmaker’s partner Zenuity.
So, as of now, you’d better get used to the Recharge name when talking about Volvo. The moniker will be used to describe not only Volvo’s electric cars, but also its plug-in hybrids.
“Today is a momentous occasion for Volvo Cars and for all employees here in Ghent,” said in a statement Javier Varela, head of global industrial operations and quality. “As we continue to electrify our line-up, the Ghent plant is a real trailblazer for our global manufacturing network.”
So, what is the XC40 Recharge? If you were expecting an EV on a dedicated platform, that’s not the case. The SUV is in fact built on the same hardware as the regular XC40, but with its ICE entrails replaced by an electric powertrain.
In this case we’re talking about a 78 kWh battery suitable for a range of 400 km (248 miles) and capable of recharging to 80 percent capacity from a fast-charging system in 40 minutes. Forward motion is ensured by means of two electric motors generating 408 hp and 660 Nm of torque.
What is perhaps more interesting about it is that the car’s infotainment system runs the latest Android software, making the EV the first Volvo to deploy it. Also, this is the first Volvo car to use a new suite of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), developed by the carmaker’s partner Zenuity.
So, as of now, you’d better get used to the Recharge name when talking about Volvo. The moniker will be used to describe not only Volvo’s electric cars, but also its plug-in hybrids.
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