All-electric Volvo XC40 Recharge due 2020

Volvo Cars has launched its Volvo XC40 Recharge as part of its new electrified car line.

The first in a family of fully electric cars, the model is also the first in Volvo’s Recharge car line concept and due for a production start next year.

Australia and New Zealand launch timing and pricing have yet to be confirmed.

During the next five years, Volvo Cars will launch a fully electric car annually 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.

So customers will be asked ‘do you want a cord with that?’

The five-seater XC40 Recharge is based on the popular XC40 small SUV and comes with a new infotainment system powered by Google’s Android.

Volvo NZ general manager Coby Duggan says the fully electric XC40 will be a welcome addition to the local market.

“Already one of our most popular models since its arrival here, the much-anticipated electrification of the XC40 will add an exciting new dimension to the Volvo line-up,” he says.

Volvo Cars chief executive Hakan Samuelsson says a major new step has been taken in Volvo’s electrification direction with the launch of the XC40 and the Recharge car line.

It has a fully electric all-wheel drive powertrain providing more than 400km range and the 78kWh capacity battery fast charges to 80% in 40 minutes.

It’s reported to have 300kW total power, 660Nm torque and a 180km/h top speed.

To meet demand, Volvo Cars will triple production capacity for electrified cars and will, as of next year, prepare a Designer’s Choice selection of popular Recharge models, offering the potential for radically reduced delivery times.

Volvo Cars aims for plug-in hybrid cars to make up 20% of total sales worldwide in 2020.

Every Volvo model in the range includes a Recharge option, from the small XC40 SUV via the 60 Series cars to the company’s flagship large XC90 SUV.

Volvo Cars says it’s the only carmaker to offer a plug-in variant on every model in its line-up.

The XC40 Recharge and the Recharge car line also support Volvo Cars’ ambition to become a climate-neutral company by 2040.

It aims to reduce its lifecycle carbon footprint per car by 40% between 2018 and 2025, in line with the 2015 global Paris climate agreement which seeks to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Volvo Cars will also tackle carbon emissions in its manufacturing network, its wider operations, its supply chain and through recycling and reuse of materials.

Check its climate plan HERE.