Volvo is revising its C40 and XC40 Recharge models for 2024 to give them more range. The two EVs will get a new rear-wheel drive variant with new electric motors and an uprated battery pack, with the Twin Motor models also getting a big boost in range.
The new single motor variants of the 2024 Volvo C40 Recharge and the 2024 Volvo XC40 Recharge will use a new 248-hp permanent magnet motor on the rear axle and a new 82-kWh battery pack. Volvo calls the in-house designed motor a "second-generation" unit and says it delivers higher efficiency than the motor in the previous Twin Motor's rear unit.
Combine the single motor and the 4-kWh higher-capacity battery pack, and you get much more range. There's now 471 km for the XC40 and 477 km for the slightly sleeker C40 Single Motor. That's a big climb from the 359 km and 364 km the Twin Motor models offered previously.
But the Twin Motor versions of the C40 and XC40 Recharge get some range-boosting tweaks as well, starting with new motors of their own.
In 2023, the Twin Motor Recharges got matching 201-hp electric motors front and rear for 402 hp. The 2024 models see an in-house designed 255-hp motor on the rear and a new 147-hp asynchronous motor on the front axle. An asynchronous electric motor doesn't require a constant electric charge, so Volvo can de-power that motor when it is not needed. The total power output doesn't change, but the efficiency does.
How much? Enough that Twin Motor models, despite using the same 78-kWh battery pack they had last year, get substantial range increases. Both can travel 49 km farther on a charge, with the XC40 estimated at 408 km and the C40 413 km.
Not all of the improvements come from the electric system, though. There are changes, including a new 19-inch wheel that Volvo says helps reduce drag and adds extra distance on a charge.
Volvo says the 2024 models are set to arrive at dealers in early fall. Expect pricing later this year.
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