Volvo Car South Africa has confirmed that it will bring its new all-electric Volvo XC40 P6 Recharge into the country. It will join the Volvo XC40 P8 Recharge AWD that launched last year, as part of Volvo’s plan to transition to being a fully electric car maker by 2030.
Volvo’s new P6 is positioned below its P8, as the smaller number suggests. Apart from the number on the back and the number of motors under the hood, they’re almost the same vehicle. The P6 is powered by a single front-mounted electric engine instead of the twin electric motors in the P8. Both models share the same 69kWh battery.
Same Volvo, half the power
One fewer motor means less power at your disposal. The peak outputs have almost halved, dropping from 304kW/660Nm in the P8 to 170kW/330Nm in the P6. These changes have resulted in the 0-100km/h time increasing from an eye-widening 4.9 seconds to a pants-friendly 7.4 seconds.
Just like the P8, the P6 comes with an 11kW onboard charger suitable for charging at home or at a public charging facility. Unfortunately, information on charging times is a little thin at present.
Hopefully, in the P6, range anxiety won’t hit too hard. The P6 has half the grunt but unfortunately, that doesn’t translate to double the range. It does come in slightly higher than that of the P8, so that’s nice. Volvo is quoting 423km as the P6’s range. Actual range will vary depending on several factors, like driving style, road conditions, how hot it is outside… you get the idea.
Local pricing and availability are yet to be finalised. At a guess, expect it to fall somewhere between the petrol-powered XC40 T5 (R820,000), and the electric P8 (R1.2 million).
“Just like the twin-motor version, the XC40 P6 Recharge serves up tremendous on-road refinement, yet still boasts more than enough power to be exceedingly fun to drive. In addition, its high level of energy efficiency results in a usable range in excess of 400 km, all with the benefits of zero tailpipe emissions,” says Greg Maruszewski, managing director at Volvo Car South Africa.