New luxury crossover goes on sale in South Africa – Pricing and features

Volvo has updated the C40 electric crossover for South Africa.

Our sources at Duoporta Vehicle Information specialists recently brought to our attention that a “new” Volvo was listed on the company’s website called the EC40.

The EC40, as it turns out, is the new name for the C40 that made its local debut back in 2023.

The crossover coupe has been renamed, and it has also been upgraded to the “Ultra” specification rather than the “Ultimate” version we previously had.

This was likely done to bring the C40 more in line with the carmaker’s other electric models, such as the EX30 and EX90.

The Volvo EC40 Twin Performance Ultra has a local starting price of R1,396,800, which includes a 5-year/100,000km warranty, a 3-year/60,000km maintenance plan, and an 8-year/160,000km battery warranty.

Powertrain

As the name “Twin Performance” suggests, the crossover coupe has a pair of electric motors – one for each axle.

This gives the Volvo a rather generous 300kW and 670Nm to play around with, allowing it to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in just 4.7 seconds and reach a top speed of 180km/h.

Powering the e-motors is an 82kWh battery, which provides a range of roughly 650km.

When using a standard AC charging outlet, the battery will take eight hours to replenish, but an 80% top-up can be achieved in just 28 minutes when using a DC fast charger.

Features

The upmarket EC40 has a generous features list that starts with automatic Pixel LED headlights and daytime running lights, a two-tone black roof, a panoramic sunroof, 20-inch glossy black diamond-cut alloy wheels, and tinted rear windows.

It also has keyless entry and start, a heated leather multifunction steering wheel, a Harman Kardon stereo, a wireless charging pad, dual-zone climate control, power adjustable heated front seats, heated rear seats, four-way lumbar support for the driver’s seat, a charcoal headliner, textile upholstery, aluminium tread plates, and ambient lighting.

The dashboard has a 9-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a 12.3-inch digital driver display that can display navigation information.

On top of this, the Volvo features a driving aid suite with a 360-degree camera, road sign recognition, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection, cross traffic alert, tyre pressure monitoring, rear collision warning, and all-round parking sensors.