Volvo’s All-New Pure Electric C40 Recharge

Volvo has become the latest carmaker to make a serious commitment to electric drive. The Swedish marque, which is owned by the Chinese giant Geely Holding, will offer only battery-electric powered cars on its portfolio by 2030, thus completely phasing out internal combustion engine vehicles. The company has also confirmed that it will not invest in hydrogen fuel cell as a future alternative to electric drive. Furthermore, by 2040 Volvo aims to become a fully carbon neutral organization, offering complete transparency on the challenges ahead and the actions taken.

Volvo promises a seamless consumer experience. So, all the electric cars will be sold online, pre-configured and delivered at a fixed price with a special consumer care package to include, where possible, charging systems. “Our aim is to provide people the freedom to move in personal sustainable way,” chief executive, Hakan Samuelsson, told us at a virtual press conference this morning.

The all-new C40 Recharge leads the way in this new chapter. A pivotal product for Volvo, unlike others in the portfolio which are engineering revisions of current models, the vehicle you see here is Volvo’s first purely electric designed car. It retains the high seating position expected of a Volvo, while offering a lower profile than its XC40 sibling and a much sleeker roofline. It also introduces a new face and is the first Volvo with advanced pixel technology headlights, so you don’t dazzle oncoming traffic with your full beam, particularly suited to Scandinavian countries with their long dark winters.

The C40 Recharge comes with twin motors front and rear and 78kW/h battery which can be fast charged to 80% in under 40 minutes, boasting an estimated 260-mile battery range which is expected to improve over time with over-the-air software updates. Its infotainment system is based on the Google Android operating system and comes with unlimited data.

All Volvo’s, including the C40, are to be completely leather free and the C40 will be only sold exclusively online. The car goes into production this fall and will be built alongside the XC40 Recharge at Volvo’s manufacturing plant in Ghent, Belgium.

Following the digital reveal, I jumped on a video call with Robin Page, Volvo’s senior vice president of design, to get a fuller picture of the design brief and his creative thoughts about the future of Volvo Cars.

Nargess Banks: The C40 certainly looks striking with its low, sporty profile, sleek roofline, and new electric face. Can you talk me through the design?

Robin Page: The starting point was to enhance the benefits of an SUV, so we kept the high seating position and the utility of it, but introduce a sleeker and more modern roofline. This has the added benefit of great aerodynamics which helps with battery range. We wanted a strong graphic identity with a line that goes along the waste line and flips up at the rear. The simple graphics have a lot to do with how we’ve treated the surfaces. It evolves the XC40 design principle with its solid form and by carving powerful waves on the surfaces.

We redesigned the front light area and took away the grille frame for a modern electric look. The car only comes with the black roof to identify it on the road and we introduced new aero-style wheels to express efficiency. At the rear we introduced a broken graphic to the light design which gives a new identity and welcomes you as you approach the car.

Inside tells an exciting story. It is animal free, which is something that is so crucial as we move forward with sustainable travel. Did you utilize some of the sustainable ideas explored in sister brand Polestar?

Both brands work in the same design studio, so we do share ideas and develop materials together. For the C40 we took inspiration from nature and the north of Sweden which we turned into a typography pattern on the instrument panel. It has a layered effect so the light behind it creates an unusual and cool effect. Inside, 97% of the materials are based on recycled PET bottles, while the seats are made of recycled sustainable materials which are much lighter than leather.

At the start of this transition to e-mobility, the mood felt very optimistic with the design community at large eager to use this as an opportunity to radically rethink form language – possibly even the car’s function as purely a mode for mobility. The first wave of electric cars follows similar design and user-experience to the traditional motor car. Are radical propositions still in the pipeline for wave two of e-mobility?

Electric drive gives the opportunity for the design team to challenge the norm because you have to do things differently and it also pushes you. For instance, aerodynamics has always been important in vehicle design, but now it is becoming really crucial so lightweight materials are another element that are super important going forward. Users want a new level of connectivity and entertainment driving and while they are charging the car. Electric drive allows us to do more playful things with the interior and enables us to challenge these projects.

So are you saying that with Volvo we see more radical ideas developing in the future? 

Yes, there are definitely exciting products in the pipeline.

Read what sister brand Polestar has planned in the electric age; see other electric cars: Volkswagen ID.3, Audi e-tron Quattro 55, BMW iX, MINI Vision Urbanaut and Lunaz electric Range Rover and Rolls Royce classics