Volvo is preparing a more affordable electric model on its new SPA3 platform, due to arrive next year and aimed at the Skoda Elroq and Ford Explorer. The car is expected to succeed the ageing EX40 crossover and to begin deliveries after the summer.
The new model is intended to target a large, lower-priced segment than the EX60, which starts at £57,000 and rises to £70,000. The EX40 successor is one of 13 new cars Volvo plans to launch globally by 2030. It will be designed and engineered primarily for the European market, in line with the company's new regionalised product development strategy. Volvo is also working on a new flagship SUV for the US market, based on the XC90's SPA2 platform, and six models specifically for China based on modular architecture from parent company Geely.
Volvo has not yet confirmed details of the car, but its early positioning suggests a smaller SUV aimed at Europe's most popular C-segment, where the company currently fields the XC40. That model was recently facelifted after nearly a decade on sale. Available with petrol and electric power, the XC40 remains Volvo's second-best-selling model line after the XC60, for which the EX60 serves as the electric equivalent. The new volume-focused car looks likely to replace the EX40 EV, which starts at £44,000, while the petrol-powered XC40 will stay on sale using the CMA platform.
Volvo has previously said its new European line-up will eventually include «new low and high body types», hinting at a possible return to the saloon and estate segments it has pulled back from in recent years. However, the volume focus of the second SPA3 car makes an SUV more likely, given the greater popularity of taller vehicles in the region.
The SPA3 platform can be used for cars ranging in length from the EX30 at 4.2 metres to the EX90 at 5.0 metres, and it has been engineered for packaging flexibility, with battery cells that can be rearranged within the floorpan to suit different body shapes. Compared with its SPA2 predecessor, the platform introduces a new cell-to-body battery design, «megacasting» production that reduces the number of individual parts, and new-generation drivetrain hardware intended to improve efficiency and dynamics.
If the new model matches the EX40 in size, it would be around 300mm shorter than the EX60, and so is unlikely to share the larger car's 112kWh flagship battery, which offers more than 500 miles of range. The mid-range 91kWh pack could potentially fit, however, which would give the new model a range of more than 410 miles and fast-charging capability of up to 370kW. That range would beat most rivals at this price point.
The launch carries commercial weight for Volvo. The company said a second, higher-volume SPA3 model will accelerate its efforts to recoup the substantial development and production costs of the bespoke platform. That matters as it works to recover from heavy losses in recent months and to reach its ambition of an 8% profit margin.
Production of the EX60 has been slower than planned. Six months after its launch, the car has yet to reach full-scale output. Volvo says the BMW iX3 rival is «taking longer than planned to ramp up» because of the challenges of its new technology and construction. The company has taken more than 50,000 orders for the electric equivalent of its best-selling XC60, but has so far built just 5,000 units since production began in April. Chief executive Håkan Samuelsson has warned that the model's «financial contribution will be delayed as we are not ramping up to the plan we had before».