Volvo is launching its first-ever, fully electric car: the XC40 Recharge. Based on its best-selling XC40 compact SUV, the Recharge is the first of an upcoming family of all-electric Volvos and as you might expect, the Swedish automaker is pretty excited about the whole thing.
“We have said this several times before: for Volvo Cars, the future is electric,” said Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive. “Today we take a major new step in that direction with the launch of our fully electric XC40 and the Recharge car line.”
“Recharge” will be the name Volvo appends to each of its future electric and plug-in hybrid models, and to encourage electric driving, every customer visiting Volvo’s website from early 2020 will be asked whether they want a Recharge. As an extra incentive, all Recharge plug-in hybrid customers will benefit from free electricity for a year that Volvo says will be “provided through a refund for the average electricity cost during that period.”
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The XC40 Recharge is driven by an all-wheel-drive electric powertrain producing an impressive 408 horsepower, which Volvo says can go 400 km on a single charge, or about 250 miles. Even more notable is that the battery can be charged to 80 percent in only 40 minutes using a fast-charger system.
Volvo says it aims for plug-in hybrid cars to make up 20 percent of its total sales in 2020, which it will achieve by tripling its production capacity for electrified vehicles. Every model the company produces will include a Recharge option, from the smaller XC40 and 60 Series to the large, flagship XC90 SUV.
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