► New motor for electric SUV coupe
► Volvo’s first in-house design
► Brings more power, more range, RWD
The Volvo C40 Recharge has been under the knife – not for an obvious facelift but for some serious internal surgery. Not only does this electric car now have a longer driving range, it also sees the return of rear-wheel drive to Volvo for the first time in 25 years, alongside the closely related Volvo XC40.
The updates see the single-motor front-wheel drive version dropped from the line up, and the all-wheel drive Volvo C40 Twin Motor receive a revised set of motors as well.
Sounds like some significant upgrades for the new Volvo C40?
The changes are all focused on new rear-wheel drive motor packages. For the first time, these have been developed in-house at Volvo and come in three outputs: 175kW, 183kW and 185kW.
Single-motor rear-wheel drive models with the least powerful 175kW (235bhp) motor – replacing the previous 170kW (228bhp) front-wheel drive option – are said to be good for a claimed 296 miles WLTP.
That’s up from 272 miles, and with 130kW DC charging capability can be topped up 10-80 per cent in 34 minutes.
In the all-wheel drive twin-motor C40, the previous setup of paired 150kW motors has been replaced by plumbing in Volvo’s own 183kW motor at the back and a new asynchronous 117kW motor at the front.
Total output remains the same at 300kW (402bhp), but again battery cooling improvements for the 82kWh pack mean the Volvo C40 Recharge Twin Motor AWD can now travel up to 315 miles between charges. That’s a 35-mile improvement over the old model.
Anything else worth noting about the 2023 Volvo C40 electric car?
A single-motor 185kW (245bhp) variant is also going into production – but won’t be available to buyers in the UK.
This C40 Recharge extended range model comes with a larger 82kWh battery pack, good for a claimed 331 miles of driving per charge, and a 10-80 per cent charging time of 28 minutes thanks to its 200kW DC compatibility. Seems a shame we won’t be getting this one, but presumably Volvo knows its audience.
There are also some minor exterior changes for the revised C40 – but these are limited to things like the alloy wheels, which not only look different but also reduce drag.
Volvo plans to build electric cars only by 2030.