- It will be Volvo’s first EV built on a new platform.
- The Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) will serve smaller vehicles.
Volvo, a rather small car manufacturer, is not letting its relative size slow it down. With the backing of its parent company Geely, they began production only last week of the XC40 Recharge, their first full EV. The Chinese company has helped develop a new 100% EV platform called SEA which will serve to underpin a new small SUV, potentially called XC20.
This new sub-XC40 vehicle hasn’t officially been announced. Autoexpress.co.uk reports that they spoke to Volvo boss Hakan Samuelsson at the recent Beijing Auto Show and he said that Volvo was going to make use of the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform, introduced by Geely, for a new EV.
Volvo XC40 Recharge | Photo: Volvo
“We will also use SEA,” Samuelsson said. “We’ll use it for a smaller car, where I think it’s very practical and smart for us to share that, so we can have a cost structure for a smaller car that’s very competitive. It’s difficult to push the CMA platform [the XC40’s chassis], which is a combination platform for EVs and combustion-engined cars, further down. So if you want to do a smaller car than XC40 then SEA can do it. We will use it for that.”
The name “XC20” is not confirmed either however Volvo has recently trademarked XC10 and XC20. Samuelsson also shared that they are working on a new generation of the 40 Series vehicles, which will all be electric too. There is no timeline for the new sub-XC40 but it can’t be too far off.
