Volvo has launched its first electric car in India — the XC40 Recharge — at ₹55.90 lakh (ex-showroom, India), which makes it ₹11.40 lakh more expensive than its petrol-powered namesake.
The EV SUV will be assembled at Volvo’s facility in Hoskote near Bengaluru, making it India’s first luxury EV to be locally assembled. The XC40 Recharge is available exclusively on Volvo’s website and buyers will be able to place orders from July 27 for a token amount of ₹50,000.
The XC40 Recharge will come with an 11kW wall-box charger, with Volvo offering a three-year warranty on the car and eight years on the batteries.
The SUV gets a 78kWh battery capable of 150kW DC fast charging that can top the car from 10 to 80% in a claimed 33 minutes. On a more easily accessible 50kW fast charger, Volvo says the XC40 Recharge can fully charge in about 2.5 hours.
With a claimed range of 418km on the WLTP cycle, the XC40 Recharge is available in India in the higher-spec Twin version, which has two electric motors — one on each axle producing 408hp and 660Nm of torque. This makes it almost twice as powerful as the petrol-powered XC40 and comparable to the larger and more expensive Audi e-tron 55 Quattro. All that power gives the XC40 Recharge a brisk 0-100 time of 4.9 seconds; however, the EV is 400kg heavier than the petrol model, weighing in at 2,188kg.
The XC40 Recharge that has come to India is essentially the facelifted version, and gets minor cosmetic changes like a new iteration of the ‘Thor’s Hammer’ Daytime Running Lamps and restyled bumpers. Compared to the petrol-powered XC40, the Recharge is 15mm longer, but has a slightly lower ground clearance of 175mm due to the battery pack. It features a blanked-out grille, new dual-tone 19-inch alloy wheels, and a 452-litre boot, with an additional 31 litres under the bonnet.
In terms of features, the XC40 Recharge borrows infotainment and telematics from the facelifted XC60, and that means a sharper set of digital dials and the new Android-based infotainment system. The driver gets direct access to Google Maps and Assistant, and a number of apps from the PlayStore with the help of an onboard e-SIM.
The XC40 Recharge also gets a panoramic sunroof, wireless phone charging, a full suite of sensor-based ADAS tech with Level 2 Autonomous driving, connected car tech, powered front seats with driver-side memory and a premium Harman Kardon sound system.
