Volvo Unveils Its First Electric Car, XC40 Recharge

Over the next few years, the company has promised to launch a new electric car every year, and become fully carbon neutral by 2040.

Along with many other major automakers, Volvo has committed itself to electric future for its products. The Swedish concern’s strategy for the next five years is to launch a new electric car model every year and reduce the company's carbon footprint by 40%.

Volvo has been slightly behind its competitors with regard to electrification and intends to actively win strong positions for itself. The new development plan should lead to the company completely stopping the use of non-renewable energy sources. 

In order to implement such dramatic changes, Volvo will have to redesign a lot of things within the company, in particular, its supply chain and structure. Volvo Car Group President Hakan Samuelsson said the company has made driver and passenger safety a part of its brand and it should do exactly the same with sustainability.

Volvo's first electric model – XC40 Recharge – is twice as powerful as its gasoline version. The car can travel 400 km on a single charge. The charging takes a lot of time so far. 78 kWh battery can be charged to 80% in 40 minutes. The electric XC40 can accelerate to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds.

The company’s engineers replaced the radiator grill, which was not needed any more, with a module equipped with multiple sensors and cameras that collect data for ADAS assistant system.

When developing its electric car, Volvo remained true to its main principle: safety. In particular, the battery compartment is properly protected to make sure the driver and passengers do not get hurt in case of an accident. Safety was also the rationale behind the reinforcement of load-carrying parts of the car body.

The management of car settings has become more intuitive. The XC40 on-board computer has Google Assistant, Google Maps, and Google Play preinstalled.

Volvo admits that it looks up to Tesla in many ways, but it is ready to compete with the American company in energy efficiency and design.