As early as the beginning of March this year, Volvo Cars released its global sustainable development strategy goal to achieve full electrification by 2025, when the proportion of pure electric models will reach 50%, the rest will be hybrid models, and in 2030, it will become a pure electric luxury car company, eliminating all cars equipped with internal combustion engines, including hybrid vehicles.
Then back to the existing product matrix, in addition to the XC40 pure electric version previously listed, Volvo's first pure electric model in the true sense is Volvo's new C40, which is also a milestone product for Volvo's commitment to a zero-emission future, which can be said to have high hopes for Volvo.
At present, according to the official release information, Volvo's new C40 has now opened pre-sale, and the official pre-price is from 267,000 yuan. At the same time, the official also said that the Volvo C40 will be officially listed during the Beijing Auto Show, but considering the possible postponement of the auto show, it is expected to arrange a follow-up listing schedule after the end of the pre-sale period on April 20.
Before its listing, Titanium Media was invited to participate in the volvo C40 static experience activities, please follow us together to see this Nordic style of the new pure electric model.
Volvo's exclusive, all-electric design language
As Volvo's first pure electric coupe with a slipback design, the C40 has a clear Volvo-style pure electric design language at the overall design level. The front face adopts a shark-nose tapered front design, extending the curved tension to the wheel arches on the left and right sides, and the Volvo family style can also be intuitively felt after the closed grille is replaced.
Volvo's iconic Quake headlights are also essential, and they use smart pixel headlights, including 168 adaptive lamps, which can automatically adjust near and far, direction, height and provide up to 10 lighting modes.
As a coupe SUV model, the biggest feature of volvo C40 is naturally the slip-on design. The car adopts a two-color body design, and the black roof enhances the sense of movement at the same time, but also reduces the visual center of gravity of the whole car, giving people the feeling of being more biased towards a crossover SUV.
The rear design of the new car returns to the Nordic style of simplicity, and it also adds an overhead diverter and a fixed tail wing to the rear, which has good aerodynamic characteristics and brings a more sharp sense of movement.
Of course, the most eye-catching thing at the rear of the vehicle is its Viking Axe sequence taillights, which rely on the unique strip curve formed by the contour of the body line, presenting a very dashing "S" shape, and the sequence-lit welcome light effect design also makes it more recognizable.
Eco-friendly properties are pulled full of Nordic style interiors
As a pure electric model, there will undoubtedly be more attention to the design of the cockpit, but Volvo's consistent Nordic minimalist style is just in line with the current trend of interior design of new energy models. As a result, the Volvo C40 remains full of Volvo elements, with the centre console tilted to the driver's side, the familiar three-spoke multifunction steering wheel and a longitudinal multimedia touch screen.
The large central control screen is also a routine operation, but the 12.3-inch full LCD instrument equipped with it brings some freshness to the car, the minimalist style picture is very clear, and the navigation can be cast in the dashboard, which is smooth and convenient to use.
As mentioned earlier, electrification is an important part of Volvo Cars' sustainability strategy, and Volvo Cars strives to continuously reduce the carbon emissions of each car over its lifetime. As a milestone product for the future of zero emissions, volvo C40 has made great efforts in the use of environmentally friendly materials.
In terms of seats, the seat material of the new car is made of Bubucktextile composite material mixed with sustainable material MicrochVinyl, which has better friction than Alcantara through 3D three-dimensional cutting and one-time weaving molding, and has the advantages of wear resistance, stain resistance and combustion.
At the same time, the Volvo C40 also uses fjord blue carpets, which are inspired by the deep water bays of the west coast of Scandinavia, which can present a very quiet and remote interior atmosphere against the background of transparent backlit interior panels, and it is also made of 100% environmentally friendly materials.
For design reasons, the Volvo C40 is not equipped with a panoramic sunroof that can be opened, but uses a panoramic sky canopy with an area of 1.54 square meters. It adopts Low-E coating and PVC film interlayer, which has heat insulation, anti-UV and noise reduction, anti-glare, and can isolate more than 99.5% of UV radiation, so that the interior of the cockpit does not need to be equipped with sunshades or thermal insulation curtains.
Powertrain: Available in long battery life/high performance versions
Volvo C40 will provide four-wheel drive high-performance version and long-endurance version of two kinds of power to choose from, of which the four-wheel drive high-performance version of the model using front and rear dual permanent magnet synchronous motor, the maximum power of 300kW, the peak torque of 660 N·m, the whole series of four-wheel drive models, 0-100km/h acceleration time of only 4.7s; the long-endurance version of the model is driven by a front single motor, the maximum power of 170kW, the peak torque of 330 N·m, CLTC standard cruising range of 550km.
The Volvo C40 will use a high-stability single crystalline nickel battery cell, a four-wheel drive high-performance version of the battery capacity of 78kWh, and a long-endurance version of 69kWh. On the basis of the CMA architecture, the battery pack is enclosed in the chassis architecture, the vehicle center of gravity is lower, and the counterweight ratio of 50:50 is more stable.
In terms of charging, the battery pack of the Volvo C40 supports up to 100kW DC fast charging, and it takes 40 minutes for 10-80% of the power, while it takes 8 hours to charge from 0% to 100% using an 11kW home AC charging pile. In addition, the 3.5kW charging cable that comes with the car can be used for emergency charging at 220V home power supply.
It is worth mentioning that the Volvo C40 has also made a lot of improvements to cope with the low temperature use environment. When the weather is cold, the user can set the departure time or start the air conditioner in advance through the mobile phone software, and when the vehicle is charging, it will automatically use the power grid to heat the battery, reduce the power loss of the vehicle itself, and ensure the maximum endurance of the vehicle.
When the battery temperature is below -20 degrees, the system can automatically wake up the vehicle to start intelligent heating. At the same time, according to the external environment, the system will automatically select the optimal heating solution between the heat pump system and the PTC system, which can greatly reduce the trouble of shortening the mileage in winter.
Safety performance of the Volvo C40
First of all, in terms of battery pack protection, the car adopts a battery cage type high-strength aluminum frame, which can greatly reduce the risk of accidents and improve the safety of the whole vehicle. The battery module adopts a two-layer superimposed structure arrangement method. This layout, in the face of a frontal collision, the battery pack against the external strike force, will be more secure. The reinforced aluminum rod on the side also ensures the safety of the battery system in the face of side impact.
The interior of the battery module adopts a multi-layer fireproof structure design, and the battery pack is equipped with fireproof insulation material at the same time, and no open flame can be achieved for more than 20 minutes after thermal runaway. And it is also equipped with an intelligent cooling cooling system, which can monitor the battery in real time and actively cool down when needed to maintain the battery at a safe working temperature.
If an accidental collision occurs, the high-voltage battery pack will automatically disconnect the circuit with the vehicle to ensure that the vehicle is not in danger of being charged. At the same time, the battery pack is also designed with an exhaust valve, which can discharge the internal pressure and flue gas in a directional manner in the extreme case of battery fire to avoid unexpected bursting.
In terms of vehicle active and passive safety, it is Volvo's "good play", for pure electric models, it has added a collision energy absorption structure on both sides of the bottom, which greatly reduces the possibility of collision and fire. At the same time, the lower part of the body has also been strengthened, the collapse zone has been redesigned, and the lower anti-collision beam has been added to effectively protect the crew compartment and battery pack from intrusion.
The Volvo C40 will be equipped with 20 high-sensitivity sensors that will allow the driver to clearly grasp the surrounding conditions of the vehicle and provide a guarantee for the operation of the driver assistance system. In addition, the Volvo C40 is equipped with a number of safe driving assistance technologies such as BLIS Blind Spot Information System, Reversing Side Warning System, Intelligent Avoidance of Oncoming Vehicles, Pilot Assist Pilot Assist, Lane Keeping Assist, RSC Anti-Roll Stability Control System, and HDC Steep Slope Mitigation System to further enhance active safety.
Written in the end, as Volvo's official entry into the field of pure electricity "stepping stone", different from the previous XC40 pure electric version, whether it is the exclusive electrification elements at the appearance level, or the application of low-carbon environmental protection materials in the interior, we intuitively feel the change of Volvo.
At the product force level, vehicle safety has always been Volvo's strength, and the safety of pure electric models in this regard is naturally a lot of points. And the Volvo C40 is also a big step ahead in terms of environmental properties, which is also the main theme for a long time to come.
But it has to be said that in the era of intelligence, consumers are more concerned about the scientific and technological attributes of vehicles, at this point Volvo C40C40 as a new product does not have obvious advantages, after all, just launched the first product, there is still a lot of room for growth at the technical level. In the future, with the deepening of the electrification process, the sales model will also be transformed into an online direct sales model, and various changes will also completely change Volvo's established impression in people's minds.
(This article was first published on the Titanium Media App, the article | often laughed)