“Dis a mooi kar”, said the elderly gentleman in his early 2000s Toyota Hilux. He was talking about the Volvo C40 I had just neatly parked outside my local Builders Warehouse. Which made me realise that espousing the virtues of Volvo’s electric tech everytime an EV arrived on my driveway, meant I was ignoring an aspect of the Swedish brand just as worthy of celebrating. Their appearance.
THIS IS US, NOW
Who cares about looks when you’ve got EV tech to obsess over, right? But hey, let’s humor the traditionalists for a moment and talk about the styling of the C40 Recharge. Imagine if IKEA designed a car, and that’s pretty much the vibe you get with the C40 Recharge. It’s like they took a sleek, Scandinavian coffee table, slapped some wheels on it, and called it a day. But hey, who needs flashy curves and aggressive lines when you’ve got that subtle, understated charm? It’s the car equivalent of wearing black to a party – timeless, but not exactly turning heads. And yet, during my week at the helm of the C40, much rubbernecking transpired – it’s a properly attractive Hatch-cum-SUV. I’d argue that Volvo has produced winner after winner since the introduction of the XC60 in 2008. Then came the marque’s re-energised aesthetic at the start of the electric revolution.
Beyond drooling over the C40’s exterior, underneath that shell lies the heart of a technological beast. We’re talking about electric motors whirring like eager puppies, batteries packing more juice than your morning smoothie, and enough digital wizardry to make your smartphone blush with envy. But it’s the minimalism inside here that really gets to me, calms me in the face of manic traffic. I love sitting inside the C40.
Now that we have established that the Volvo C40 Recharge can hold its own in any beauty pageant, I’d be remiss not to mention that Volvo is on the charge towards embracing that greener future. I won’t get into the debate of EVs versus ICE in terms of what is ultimately less harmful over the course of its life – but the Swedish company has certainly made the prospect as handsome as you could hope. EV credentials and looks aside, there’s the ‘motoring’ fundamentals upon which a car is deemed good or bad. I mean the drive – the engagement, the feedback and comfort. That feeling in the back your neck as you blast from standstill and attempt to chase the horizon. And based on this I can happily report that the C40 is fantastic. At circa R1.3mil, it’s hardly a cheap thrill for what is ultimately a compact SUV. But if you’re on the market for a premium rocket ship for four adults (comfortably) with styling that will age gracefully and a zen as heck living space, this Volvo is hard to beat.