Volvo XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge names axed

Volvo has announced it will rename both the current Volvo C40 Recharge and the Volvo XC40 Recharge as part of plans to align them with the rest of its all-electric model range.

In future, the Volvo XC40 Recharge will go by the Volvo EX40 name, while the more rakish C40 Recharge will be rebadged as the EC40.

According to the Swedish brand, the new names will help consumers understand the positioning of its two small SUVs within the rest of the Volvo EV line-up, which will soon include the new small EX30 and large EX90 electric SUVs and, at least in China, the EM90 people-mover.

Adding a little confusion, the combustion-powered Volvo XC40 keeps its name. Volvo claims it will help buyers differentiate the petrol and hybrid versions from the all-electric variant (EX40).

No vehicles in the Volvo range will continue to carry the Recharge badge, which once denoted the model was powered by either hybrid or all-electric power. What does live on is the familiar T6 or T8 suffix that reveals a Volvo model’s power output.

As well as the new EX40 and EC40 model names, Volvo has announced upgraded versions of the small electric SUVs, including a higher-performance option of the fastest Twin Motor versions.

The new Performance software pack boosts power by 25kW, raising total output to a very respectable 325kW.

The upgrade is said to increase both acceleration and accelerator responses thanks to a unique new pedal mapping.

There’s no word on whether the power boost affects the driving range of the Twin Motor EC40 (451km) or the EX40 (541km).

Set to be available in most markets, the new over-the-air update will also be offered to the owners who have just bought 2024 Model Year versions of either the C40 Recharge or XC40 Recharge.

To celebrate its new names, Volvo says it is introducing a new Black Edition of the EX40, EC40 and the XC40 that hasn’t undergone a name change.

The new limited-edition models add Onyx Black paint, high-gloss badging, large 20-inch five-spoke alloy wheels painted in gloss black and the choice of either a microtech or textile charcoal interior.

Elsewhere in the Volvo line-up the Swedish brand says it has revised the B5 mild-hybrid powertrain found under the bonnet of the mid-size XC60 and the large XC90 SUVs.

Now said to employ a more revised combustion engine, Volvo says the updated B5 engine is around four per cent more efficient in the XC60 and two per cent in the XC90 on the WLTP test cycle.

Volvo says that in 2023 zero-emission vehicles accounted for 16 per cent of its total volume, amounting to 113,419 out of the 708,716 cars it sold last year.

Volvo has already committed to becoming an all-electric brand by 2030 and says that by 2025 more than 50 per cent of all the cars it sells will be EVs.

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