The Volvo XC40 Recharge shot to the top of electric car sales in September, accounting for one in three XC40 SUVs sold by the Swedish-Chinese carmaker and 21% of all its sales for the month.
The XC40 Recharge, which was recently launched by Volvo in Australia and is joined by a plug-in hybrid and a mild hybrid variant.
Volvo tells The Driven that out of the 360 XC40s sold last month, 131 were of the all-electric version, which has a starting price of $76,990 before on-roads, and offers up to 425km driving range (WLTP) from its 72.5kWh battery, 300kw maximum power and 660Nm maximum torque.
The stunning results means that the Volvo XC40 Recharge claims the top spot for monthly (non-Tesla) electric car sales in Australia, and only just missing the record for launch month sales set by the MG ZS EV (169) and the Porsche Taycan (161).
Despite this near miss, the XC40 Recharge’s popularity had already been flagged by the company’s Australian arm in September when it indicated that its first allocation of “hundreds” was already exhausted. And Volvo Australia tells The Driven more will arrive before the year’s end.
The all-electric XC40 Recharge’s stellar launch onto the Australian auto market precedes its cousin, the Polestar 2 which will be introduced imminently and is competitively priced from $59,990 (although “premium” add-ons can take it well above that starting price).
All in all, 466 EVs were reported in the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) September auto sales figures – the largest number to date in one month excluding Tesla, which does not report local sales figures to the industry body.
Word is that Tesla most recent deliveries have come from existing inventory after the Californian EV maker imported an “army” of Model 3s from its Shanghai factory in June.
Not counting the Tesla Model 3, sales of which by far exceed that of all other electric models in Australia as well as overseas, the MG ZS EV continues to hold the #2 position in the year-to-date EV sales leaderboard, followed by the Porsche Taycan, the Hyundai Kona Electric and the Nissan Leaf.
In coming months the XC40 Recharge will be joined not only by the Polestar 2 but also by the Hyundai Ioniq 5, which will be available from $71,900 before on-road costs.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.