Production of the Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric P8 has commenced. According to the Swedish automaker, demand for its compact electric SUV has been so strong that every unit scheduled to be built this calendar year has already been sold.
Volvo head of global industrial operations and quality, Javier Varela said: “Today is a momentous occasion for Volvo Cars and for all employees here in Ghent (Belgium). As we continue to electrify our line-up, the Ghent plant is a real trailblazer for our global manufacturing network.” The XC40 Recharge is the first of many full electric Volvo models to come.
To recap, the EV is based on the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform that was co-developed with Geely. The P8 variant is powered by two electric motors, one powering each drive axle. This provides all-wheel drive and a combined system output of 408 PS and 660 Nm, numbers which are good for a 4.9-second century sprint and 180 km/h top speed.
A 78 kWh lithium-ion battery resides under the floor, offering around 400 km of range (WLTP cycle) on a full charge. This battery pack adds around 400-500 kg of weight over a regular XC40 (the XC40 Recharge weighs up to 2,250 kg), and would take around 7.5 hours to juice up when plugged into an 11 kW three-phase charger.
It also supports 150 kW DC charging via the CCS connection (AC charging uses a Type 2 connection). Here, it only takes 40 minutes to achieve a 0-80% state-of-charge. Introducing the XC40 Recharge represents Volvo’s commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% per car by 2025. By then, it expects 50% of global sales to consist of electrified cars.
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