FIRST DRIVE: Electric Volvo C40 turns up the bling

It started with the BMW X6 and then suddenly they were all doing it. At the time it was quite a product development flex to say that not only do people need SUVs that don’t go off-road, but that they also need coupe versions of these SUVs that also aren’t coupes because they still have four doors.

But the X6 was a huge success and so the genre was born, like it or not.

Volvo has long cultivated a very different brand. Focused on safety, environmental sustainability and wellness, the Chinese-owned Swedish operation has a unique place in the motoring firmament. Their cars are generally havens of calm and peace. They’re comfortable and pleasingly designed with thoughtful care and detail.

They’re not the fastest or the blingiest or the most aggressive. They leave that to the Germans. In general, one alights a modern Volvo feeling like an adult. They are sensible cars for well-adjusted grown-ups.

So, then, what’s this? A swoopy compact SUV called the C40, and I’m hesitant to report that it’s fast as all hell and has turned up the bling — in Volvo terms — right to the top. It’s got snazzy rear lights that sinew their way all over its swooping rear end, and it obliterates the 0-100km/h dash in 4.7 seconds. That’s quick.

Far from being a snarling uber-SUV, though, the C40 Recharge is the latest in Volvo’s roll-out of electric cars as the company moves towards discontinuing internal combustion engines by 2030. A swoopier version of the XC40 Recharge electric compact SUV, Volvo seems almost embarrassed to talk about the fashionable car it has built, instead preferring to discuss the marginal aerodynamic benefit of the more rounded rear roofline.

All of this is grist to the mill, but if you happen to like Volvos and you happen to like EVs, its pretty hard not to like this car. It feels special from the moment you get in, “starting” when you sit down and without even the need to press a button.

The numbers are all good. That impressive sprint time is courtesy of a twin motor set-up with 300kW and a stonking 660Nm of torque on tap. In fact, it’s so torquey the little Volvo is rated to tow 1.8 tonnes. It’ll also do more than 440km on a charge, the ride and handling were good on 20-inch wheels, and the regenerative brakes do the business. All Volvos major on being quiet and on excellent NVH. This electric Volvo is as quiet as a church at midnight. The peace is very welcome.

Inside, it’s standard Volvo fare with maps and connectivity by Google Automotive which also works seamlessly with Apple Carplay. Interior design is as you’d expect; pared-back, carefully and thoughtfully designed, and devoid of bling and bluster. One concession to a richer aesthetic is the “topography” inlays on the doors and the dashboard, said to represent Swedish national park Abisko. Rear accommodation is perfectly good despite the roofline, even for taller passengers.

Volvo SA boss Greg Maruszewski says the firm hasn’t been able to measure real demand for EVs in SA as they’ve struggled for stock and have always sold everything they’ve managed to import, but he says with larger shipments on the way a sense of the scale SA’s desire to go electric is probably going to be discernible this year.

The C40 stands a good chance of taking a good slice of whatever that pie looks like. Compared to its obvious competitors the BMW iX1 and the Mercedes-Benzes EQB and EQA it has the best range and power, and is also cheaper than both the Benzes, if a touch more than the BMW at R1.285m. The C40 is a Volvo disguised as something frivolous and fashionable. It’s quite a nice combination.