The C40 Recharge has a sleeker design than its electric sibling, the XC40 Recharge, largely because at 1582 mm its height is 69 mm (2.7 inches) less than the compact SUV, with which it shares Volvo's CMA platform.
The compact crossover is also 6 mm longer (4431 mm vs. 4425 mm) but just 1 mm wider (2035 mm vs. 2034 mm) than the XC40 Recharge.
The rear of the C40 Recharge has a completely reworked taillight design compared with the compact SUV. The new car also includes LED headlights with state-of-the-art pixel-technology that Volvo said allows for the dimming of specific pixels, which reduces glare for oncoming traffic without sacrificing the light needed for safe driving.
Another key difference is that the XC40, Europe's No. 1-selling premium compact SUV in 2020 and Volvo's global best-seller in January, is also offered with gasoline, diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains while the C40 was designed from the beginning only as a full-electric car. This gave Volvo more freedom with the new crossover's design.
"The C40 is much more of a "me" car. I want to express myself visually with the product that I own and drive," Green told Automotive News Europe. "It still captures a lot of the practicality from the XC40 but it's more of an individualist's car than a practical family car."
Performance-wise, the siblings are identical, with each having a range of up to 418 km (260 miles) from their 78-kilowatt-hour battery packs, which provides 74 kWh of usable capacity, resulting in 402 hp and 660 newton meters (487 pounds-feet) of torque. Each car can accelerated from 0 to 100 kph in 4.9 seconds and reach a top speed of 180 kph.
If a 150-kilowatt fast charger is used, it takes 40 minutes to bring the C40 Recharge's battery to 80 percent capacity. Volvo estimates that every 10 minutes plugged into a fast charger adds about 100 km of range. Recharging to 100 percent capacity using a standard 3.7- to 11-kW charger takes 8 hours.
The sibling models also share their Android-based infotainment system that Volvo developed with Google. The package includes navigation with Google Maps, voice recognition with Google Assistant and access to the Google Play Store for a range of in-car apps. The cars' software will be kept up to date via over-the-air updates.
