The head of design at Volvo Cars has hinted the Swedish firm could start moving away from traditional grilles as it shifts its focus towards electric vehicles.

Robin Page, senior vice-president for design at Volvo Cars, told CARmag.co.za the next generation of electric cars represented “an opportunity to look at an even more modern and fresh expression of our cars, especially when it comes to the front end”.

“The important identity of our cars is the Volvo Iron Mark and diagonal, and the strong identity of the Thor’s Hammer front lights,” Page told us.

“Even though the grille is a characterful graphic, it is a functional element associated with the combustion engine and therefore not necessarily relevant for full electric vehicles,” the former Bentley designer added.

In October 2019, Volvo revealed the XC40 Recharge, the Swedish company’s first fully electric car (Polestar, of course, is now a standalone company). Based on the standard XC40, the Recharge variant’s electric all-wheel-drive powertrain offers a claimed range of more than 400 km on a single charge and output as high as 300 kW. And it also features a unique grille design, as seen in the image above.

Of course, Volvo Cars has already stated it aims to “establish itself as a leader in electrification”, and by 2025 wants half of its global sales volume to consist of fully electric cars, with the rest made up by hybrids.

Original article from Car