Fully charged

One of the best premium compact SUVs now gets an electric powertrain that offers electrifying performance and a very practical range, at least on paper. We get behind the wheel and take it for a day-long spin to find out whether it delivers

- Yogendra Pratap

The XC40 has been one of the best premium compact SUVs not only in our country but also around the word. It won the inaugural Premium Car Award 2019 by ICOTY, the biggest Indian award for premium and luxury vehicles while abroad it won the European Car of the Year Award. It was also the first car made on Volvo’s new gen Compact Modular Architecture and that meant that it was ready for full electrification from day one.

Volvo had announced the launch of the electric version of the XC40 in India last year but the uncertainties and disruptions caused by COVID meant that bookings are only going to open in the middle of this year followed by deliveries in the second half of the year. However that means that buyers will get the facelifted car that will come with leather free upholstery and interiors as well as Apple CarPlay that is missing from the Google powered interfaces that the car runs. We however drove the pre-facelift cars and were quite amazed at what the car offers in terms of performance and dynamics as well as the overall package that is even better than the ICE XC40.