Volvo’s new electric C40 Recharge started with a sketch

Just days ahead of our Car Design Dialogues Europe event, Volvo unveiled the C40 Recharge compact crossover and a key step on its journey to sell only pure electric cars by 2030.

Based on the XC40 SUV and built on the CMA platform jointly developed by Volvo and Geely, the new compact crossover is a step toward Volvo’s commitment to go completely electric by 2030. Along with the C40 reveal, Volvo executives also announced all EV models will be sold exclusively online.

“This car encapsulates all the great elements of an SUV: high eye point, easy ingress/egress, utility and versatility,” Robin Page, senior vice president of design at Volvo, tells CDN. “But what we’ve added is this sleek, dynamic profile. And that’s a lot to do with the aerodynamics and the efficiency and getting that modern look.”

With the C40, Page and team weren’t handed a design brief from the C-suite, but rather, the spark came from within the studio. “This is one of those projects that started with a sketch,” says Page. “This was not in any plans. It was a designer creating a sketch and turning it into a model, which is a really nice way to do a project.”

Although it has its own unique characteristics, the C40 Recharge clearly shares DNA with the XC40 EV and other Volvo models. “Taking the form of the car – and this is typical Volvo design language – we treat it as a solid and then we carve away to create negative surfaces, and that in turn creates the graphics of the car,” Page explains.

In front, designers removed the grille frame and created a flush and more modern looking front face. ADAS sensors are almost invisibly integrated into the Volvo emblem, or “iron mark.” New headlights use pixel technology (also found on the Polestar 2) with more of a curvature to the lens and the “Thor’s hammer” lighting signature. Page points out a character line that runs from the front of the car, up the A-pillar, and along the roof profile, before turning back on itself into the glass. “This line is from our heritage, which is the P1800 from the 1960s. So it’s a little link to our history but done in a nice modern way.”

The fastback roof is done in piano black, a trick often used to disguise height and emphasise a sleek silhouette. “That really symbolises this is a full electric car and gives it a nice graphic, too,” Page says. In the rear, thin segmented vertical tail lamps – also a nod to Volvo’s heritage – run down the back of the car. And much to every designer’s delight, the C40 Recharge rides on 20-inch wheels.

The interior is completely leather-free, a first for a Volvo vehicle. Fabrics and surfaces are made from recycled materials including plastic bottles, and Page tells us the micro-velour on the seats is made from 92% recycled polyester. “That is a really sustainable message for the car,” he says. The coolest detail in the cabin? Backlit deco that mimics the topography of the landscape in Sweden.

Production of the 2022 Volvo C40 Recharge should begin at the end of this year, with deliveries expected in early 2022. Meanwhile, join us for Car Design Dialogues Europe on the 17th and 18th of March at 9:00am CET for an exclusive in-depth look at the C40 Recharge with Page and other members of the Volvo design team.