Volvo has launched its first electric car in India – the XC40 Recharge – for ₹55.90 lakh (ex-showroom, India), making it 11.40 lakh more expensive than the petrol-powered one.
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 for a token amount of ₹50,000 starting July 27.
The XC40 Recharge will come with an 11kW wall-box charger, with Volvo offering a three-year warranty on the car and an eight-year warranty on the battery.
The SUV gets a 78kWh battery that is capable of 150kW DC fast charging which 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 be fully charged in about 2.5 hours.
With a claimed range of 418km on the WLTP cycle, the XC40 Recharge is available in India in the high-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 is compared to the larger and more expensive Audi e-tron 55 quattro. All that power gives the XC40 recharge a quick 0-100 time of 4.9 seconds; However, the EV is 400kg heavier than the petrol model, which weighs 2,188kg.
The XC40 Recharge that arrived in India is essentially the facelifted version, and gets minor cosmetic changes like ‘Thor Hammer’ daytime running lamps and a new iteration of the restyled bumpers. Compared to the petrol-powered XC40, the Recharge is 15 mm longer, but has a slightly lower ground clearance of 175 mm due to the battery pack. It gets a blanked-out grille, new dual-tone 19-inch alloy wheels and a 452-litre boot, an additional 31 liters 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 a new Android-based infotainment system. The onboard e-SIM gives the driver direct access to Google Maps and Assistant, and several apps from the Playstore.
The XC40 Recharge also gets a panoramic sunroof, wireless phone charging, a full suite of sensor-based ADAS technology with Level 2 autonomous driving, connected car tech, powered front seats with driver-side memory, and a premium Harman Kardon sound system.