In its bid to push towards cleaner mobility, Volvo has launched XC40 Recharge in India. It will start delivering the EV from October 2021 onwards.
Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo will commence deliveries of its first full electric car, the XC40 Recharge, in India from October 2021. Bookings will open in June. It the recent announcement, Volvo intends to sell only fully electric cars by 2030.
The XC40 Recharge is not a born-electric car, but an internal combustion engine car turned into an electric car. It is powered by two 204 horsepower electric motors, and has a 78 kWh battery which gives a WLTP-certified range of 418 km (WLTP stands for Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure, and it’s a laboratory test so may not reflect real-world range).
While it looks a lot like the regular XC40, differences are under the body. For example, there is no front radiator grille, and under the bonnet is a storage space for water bottles, gym bags, phones, laptops, take-away food and much more, as well as a front compartment for charging cables.
The cabin is made up of sustainable materials—to reduce the car’s carbon footprint over its lifecycle—and so the interior carpeting, for instance, is made entirely from recycled plastic.
And like most electric cars, the XC40 Recharge will also be a ‘connected car’.
The XC40 Recharge will be India’s most affordable luxury electric car; Mercedes-Benz sells the bigger EQC electric car at about `1 crore (ex-showroom), and Jaguar’s soon-to-be-launched i-Pace may also be in that price range, as also Audi India’s upcoming e-tron. However, the XC40 Recharge will definitely be more expensive than cars such as Hyundai Kona Electric, MG ZS EV and the Tata Nexon EV.
The XC40 petrol is priced about `40 lakh in India, and the XC40 Recharge will definitely be more expensive. At the same time, Jyoti Malhotra, managing director, Volvo Car India, told FE that the company will try to keep the difference as low as possible, so that people are able to see value in the electric version.
Volvo India also added that it will launch one new electric car in India every year, after the launch of the XC40 Recharge later this year.
