► New Volvo concept car
► Concept Recharge previews EV designs
► Flat floor will be used on new XC90
Volvo has unveiled a new concept car as a ‘manifesto’ for the next-generation of its cars. The design study, called Concept Recharge, is meant to highlight Volvo’s evolving design ethos for a new generation of pure-electric cars.
The silhouette is that of a crossover SUV with a stretched rear silhouette with some classic Volvo design cues still present, namely the Thor’s Hammer headlight and boomerang rear light signatures.
Volvo’s introduced a new ‘less but better’ design mantra here, reducing creases and lines in the bodywork. There’s no grille – why would there be if there’s no engine? – but the brand’s shield logo remains. A small outcrop on the roof is the car’s lidar sensors – a key requirement for Level 3 and above autonomy.
Interestingly, the silhouette is very similar to that of the Polestar 3, which was recently teased under a cover. There’s precedent here; the Polestar 1 and 2 were Volvo’s own concept cars made into a production reality – this Concept Recharge and the Polestar 3 could share much more than a general shape when the latter goes into production in 2022.
Volvo’s electric plans explained
Inside, it’s more of an evolution of Volvo’s current cockpit design direction. A large central portrait screen that will undoubtedly run an Android Automotive OS when Volvo’s new generation of production cars arrive from 2022 onwards.
Speaking of production cars, Volvo says the Concept Recharge’s flat floor arrangement will be one of the first details that its new generation of production cars will take advantage of. CAR understands that the first of those will be the next-generation XC90 SUV, which will be battery-electric only.
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