The quartet of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Jaguar Land Rover has already launched their niche full-electric SUVs in India. Joining the group is the last remaining ‘mainstream’ luxury car maker Volvo. The Volvo XC40 Recharge will arrive in India in July as a locally-assembled model.
The Volvo XC40 Recharge is already smaller and more affordable than the CBU models like Mercedes-Benz EQC, BMW X1, Audi e-Tron and Jaguar i-Pace. However, sources say that the new Volvo XC40 Recharge will witness local assembly in India. This move by Volvo will further help it to bring the price of XC40 Recharge even lower. Volvo will be locally assembling the XC40 Recharge at its production facility in Hasakote near Bengaluru, Karnataka. Volvo already assembles models like XC40, S60, S90 and XC90 in this production facility.
With this planned move, the Volvo XC40 Recharge will become the first luxury EV to be made in India. However, the expected pricing of the new XC40 Recharge will be in the range of Rs 50-60 lakh, thus bringing it closer to the latest all-electric global offering from Kia, the EV6.
The new XC40 Recharge is based on the petrol-powered Volvo XC40. However, it gets some prominent tweaks on the exterior in comparison to the former. The changes include a closed front grille, a different alloy wheel design and a front trunk. Replacing the 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine of the regular XC40 is an all-electric powertrain. It is a combination of a 402 bhp/660 Nm electric motor and a 78 kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
The powerful electric motor of the XC40 Recharge can make the SUV reach an electronically-limited top speed of 180 kmph. At the same time, it can cover 0-100 kmph time of 5.9 seconds. The 78 kWh battery pack claims a maximum driving range of 418 km (under WLTP test conditions). With 150 kW power output, this battery pack of XC40 Recharge can get charged from 0-80 per cent in 40 minutes. Using this power output, it can also obtain a range of 80-100 km in 10 minutes of charging. Using the regular 11kW AC fast charging option, the battery takes 8-10 hours to get fully charged.
The prices and bookings of the new XC40 Recharge will be announced in July 2022. However, the official deliveries of the all-electric SUV will begin sometime during the festive season in October 2022. Apart from the Kia E6 and the upcoming Hyundai Ioniq 5, the XC40 Recharge will also be priced against the BMW i4 all-electric sedan.
