Volvo is about to add a coupe-convertible model to the S40/V50 model range. While the S40 sedan has been on the market since September 2003 and the V50 station wagon since the beginning of 2004, the hardtop convertible has been top secret, until now. In Florida a photographer was lucky enough to snap three pictures of the new model while a film crew was shooting a commercial.


Some details of the C40 have also seeped through, such as the construction of the C40's steel roof, which is similar to the Mercedes SL, SLK, and the upcoming BMW 3-Series convertible.

These photos show the C40 in full showroom trim with the top down.

The future of Volvo Cars is electric, and the new Volvo C40 Recharge is the latest manifestation of the company's commitment to a zero-emission future.

The Volvo C40 Recharge has all the benefits of an SUV but with a lower and sleeker design. It is based on the CMA vehicle platform and is the first Volvo model in history designed as pure electric only.

Following the introduction of the XC40 Recharge and now the C40 Recharge, Volvo Cars will roll out several additional electric models in the coming years.

Already by 2025, it aims for 50 per cent of its global sales volume to consist of fully electric cars, with the rest hybrids. By 2030, it plans for every car it sells to be pure electric.

"The C40 Recharge represents the future of Volvo and shows where we are going," said Henrik Green, Chief Technology Officer at Volvo Cars. "It is fully electric, offered online only with a convenient care package and will be available for quick delivery. Getting a new Volvo was never this attractive."

The rear of the Volvo C40 Recharge features a striking rear-end design to go with the lower roof line, while the new front design introduces a new face for electric Volvos and includes headlights with state-of-the-art pixel technology.

Inside, the Volvo C40 Recharge provides customers with the high seating position that most Volvo drivers prefer, while it is available with a range of colour and deco options unique to the model. It is also the first Volvo model to be completely leather free.

Like the XC40 Recharge, the C40 Recharge comes with one of the best infotainment systems on the market, jointly developed with Google and based on the Android operating system. It provides consumers with Google apps and services built-in, such as Google Maps, Google Assistant and the Google Play Store.

Unlimited data enables superior connectivity and the C40 Recharge will receive software updates over the air. That means it will continue to improve over time after it has left the factory.

The propulsion consists of twin electric motors, one on the front and one on the rear axle, powered by a 78kWh battery that can be fast charged to 80 per cent in about 40 minutes. It offers an anticipated range of around 420km (261 miles), which is expected to improve over time via over-the-air software updates.

The fully electric C40 Recharge will be available online only. In line with its ambition of reducing complexity in its model offering and focussing on attractive pre-selected variants, Volvo Cars has drastically simplified the consumer offering of the C40 Recharge.

When customers get a new C40 Recharge, it will come with a convenient care package that includes items such as servicing, warranty, roadside assistance, as well as insurance and home charging options.

The Volvo C40 Recharge will go into production in autumn 2021 and will be built alongside the XC40 Recharge at the Volvo Cars manufacturing plant in Ghent, Belgium.

This week Volvo began production of the C40 Recharge—its first electric car that doesn't have a gas-engined twin in the lineup, and its second battery-electric model overall. The first examples rolled off the assembly line in Ghent, Belgium, which also produces the XC40 Recharge, where EV production will account for more than half of the plant's volume starting next year.
"The C40 Recharge is a car that represents our future," said Javier Varela, senior vice president for industrial operations and quality at Volvo Cars. "Our manufacturing operations and a close collaboration with our suppliers are key in achieving our future ambitions in terms of electrification and climate neutrality. Our Ghent plant is ready for an all-electric future and will be an important part of our global industrial network for the years to come."

In all, Volvo plans for EVs to make up half of its sales by 2025, and 100% by the year 2030, which has motivated recent plans to raise over $2 billion via a listing on Stockholm's Nasdaq. Volvo's Polestar sibling brand, on the other hand, has been focused entirely on EVs, and has recently announced plans to go public via a SPAC with sponsor Gores Guggenheim, with an expected valuation of $20 billion. Both cash-raising efforts are aimed at funding the transition to all-EV lineups for both brands,

The C40 Recharge borrows the powertrain from its XC40 Recharge sibling, featuring a 78-kWh battery sending power to two electric motors that produce a combined 402 hp and 486 lb-ft of torque. Among other things, this allows the AWD model to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.7 seconds.

"The C40 Recharge offers the benefits of an SUV but with a lower and sleeker design," the automaker added. "The rear of the C40 Recharge features a striking rear-end design to go with the lower roof line, while the new front design introduces a new face for electric Volvos and includes headlights with state-of-the-art pixel technology."
Just what the EPA range figures will end up being is still up in the air, but they should land just north of the 220-mile mark, based on the 223-mile range of its wagon-shaped sibling. This will land it a bit south of the ranges offered by the likes of the AWD Volkswagen ID.4, Audi Q4 e-tron, and the Tesla Model Y, but still within the 220-280 mile range that's emerged as a sweet spot for vehicles of its type.

Its starting price of $58,750, prior to the application of any federal or local incentives, will make it one of the pricier choices in this segment, especially given the fact that a bit more range will be offered by some of the competitors. The C40 Recharge is also expected to feel some heat from much less expensive models like the VW ID.4 and the Nissan Ariya, the latter of which will arrive on sale shortly. So it remains to be seen whether it will be able to make up for some small disadvantages with other qualities, like tech and luxury features inside.

The 2024 Volvo XC40 Recharge and C40 EVs will be available with rear-wheel drive, replacing the front-wheel-drive version that has been the fraternal pairing’s single-motor base model. This is obviously newsworthy — why else would I be writing about it? But does it actually mean anything? After driving both of these vehicles around the lakes, seaside, perfectly-maintained highways, and cobblestoned urban streets proximate to the brand’s headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, I can say that the answer is, not really. But that’s not really Volvo’s fault.

The last time Volvo sold a rear-wheel-drive vehicle in the United States was 1998 when the cushy, brick-like 960 was retired (officially S90 and V90 in their final year). Everything thereafter was front-wheel drive or at least on a front-drive-based platform, in no small part due to the additional all-weather traction and stability afforded by the additional weight of an internal combustion engine and transaxle over the drive wheels. In short, it was safer, and even as Volvo moved away from decades of arcane, rectilinear design, safety remained its raison d’etre.

That hasn’t changed, but according to Volvo, EVs have fundamentally changed vehicle dynamics, centers of gravity, and weight distribution to refute the front-drive argument.

A Volvo spokesperson told me that this new one-motor layout in the XC/C40, driving the rear wheels, with contemporary advanced driver assistance systems, is better in inclement weather than a gas-engine/FWD combo.

That explains why the switch to a standard rear-drive layout doesn’t run afoul of Volvo’s established ethos, but why make the switch in the first place? Whether it was the plan all along, or just an advancement of next-generation technology to prolong and extend the relevance of these vehicles, is not something Volvo would comment on. In any event, many of the base EVs that are in or near the XC/C40’s competitive set — the VW ID.4, the Kia EV6, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 — feature rear-wheel drive in their single-motor setup. It is notable that all of those cars were developed from the ground up as EVs and could be optimized for the aforementioned dynamics. The XC40 and C40 were built on a platform capable of accommodating gas-only, plug-in hybrid and full-electric powertrains.



It's also important to note that with this switch in standard layout comes new motors, which may have something to do with the switch. They were also developed in-house, optimizing Volvo's efficiencies, rather than purchasing its needs from a supplier. This is not something a carmaker does with a part they are using simply to extend the life of a vehicle nearing replacement.

This new rear motor is thus likely to find other uses down the line. Volvo spokespeople would not comment on future product offerings, but I would hazard to bet that versions of this motor mounted to the rear axle will proliferate through the Volvo range as its pure electric offerings expand in its next generation(s) of vehicles. (Volvo has promised to build only battery-powered passenger vehicles by 2030).

We didn’t really have a chance to put Volvo’s dynamic traction promise to the test. Though Gothenburg is known for providing cheerless spring murk and drizzle, our time in Sweden’s second city was glorious, with 16 hours of daily sunshine. There wasn’t all-weather traction needed, anywhere. Too bad.



We still got a chance to try both the rear-drive powertrain and the equally new twin-motor, all-wheel-drive version. Instead of the previous setup of identical 150-hp motors on the front and rear axle, a 255-horsepower version of the new rear motor is joined by an equally new, but less powerful, 147-horsepower motor on the front axle. That one’s only engaged as needed for traction purposes, which Volvo says improves efficiency.

That’s good news for range, which goes up to 294 miles for the rear-drive XC40 and 297 for C40, thanks in part to a new 82-kilowatt-hour battery pack that can be charged at a maximum rate of 200 kWh. The twin-motor version retains the outgoing models’ 78-kWh pack, but its range still goes up by 31 miles to 254 for the XC40 and 257 for the C40. Unfortunately, its fast charging rate still tops out at 150 kW.

So that’s a reason to go with rear-wheel-drive, but I’m less sold on its dynamic potential. This isn’t because I do not take pleasure in the more traditional driving dynamics offered up by a rear-biased system, but because Volvo SUVs aren’t really known for their driving dynamics to begin with. Yes, the setup was detectable to me, someone who has test driven at least 50 new cars every year for a decade-and-a-half, and has been automotively obsessed almost since birth. But my guess is, it won’t be that noticeable to most Volvo owners. When I mentioned this to a Volvo engineer, they said, “This is maybe a good thing?” meaning, a compliment. And I think they were right.

This lack of differentiation is, in part, because the RWD motor still only produces 248 horsepower, which isn’t all that much to motivate 4,500 pounds of electric SUV. It’s enough to get out of its own way, accelerating from 0-60 mph in a titch under 7 seconds, which is better than its various RWD EV competitors. But if you’re expecting the rear-drive layout to let you light up the tires, or even roar into a freeway merge, you won’t find it particularly willing. Obviously, this isn’t its purpose. The twin-motor car, with 60% more power — just over 400 hp — and only 5% more weight, is more of a hustler, running up to mile-a-minute speeds in just 4.5 seconds. But when you step on it in such a way, it goes into all-wheel-drive mode to deliver all of this oomph to the road, so it’s not as if you’ll be enjoying tail-out shenanigans there either. Again, this is not a dilemma. No one is trying to drift an XC40, or if they are, they’re probably doing something wrong.



Speaking of doing something wrong, let’s take a moment to discuss the C40. I appreciate that Volvo, like many other European manufacturers, has discovered that there is a segment of the car-buying population that is willing to pay more money for a “coupe-like” SUV, one that is significantly uglier, heavier, and less utilitarian than its sibling. But while I applaud the continued introduction of new form factors to the automotive realm — especially as electrification liberates us from some of the conventional constraints long imposed by the mechanical componentry that has defined automotive design (engine, transmission, gas tank, exhaust) — I am firmly not among that subset. Shifting the bias of the propulsion system does not shift my bias in this realm. The C40 is an aberration.

Are the 2024 C40 and XC40 better than their predecessors? Yes. Do they feel significantly different? No. Is that a bad thing? Also, no. But the fact that Volvo has developed a strong, rear-wheel-drive powertrain speaks to meaningful possibilities for the brand. Let’s hope one of those is something like a small, sporty EV successor to the 1800 ES shooting brake. Or a giant, battery-powered RWD station wagon like the Concept Recharge they showed us a couple years back. Now that Volvo has revived RWD, maybe it’s time to bring back the brick.