Living with XC40 P8
Review by Jacob Lerklint
The evolution of the Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric tells you a lot about the changing preferences of car buyers. When the XC40 family SUV line-up was launched, you could get it with regular diesel and petrol engines only. Today, diesels are no longer offered. What's more, the petrol engines are mild hybrids, there’s a plug-in hybrid with a 28-mile electric range, and this electric SUV version. With a history like that, you might assume the XC40 was a withered old car with a life spanning many decades, but the range is barely out of nappies. In fact, Volvo intended the XC40 to evolve rapidly from the outset, and the Recharge has always been part of its grand plan to propel itself towards a future that is likely to see electric cars accounting for half its sales a few years from now. The XC40 has already moved the goalposts in the family SUV class (it won our overall What Car? Car of the Year Award when it arrived), so can the fully electric version achieve a similar impact? That's what we're finding out in this review. The XC40 Recharge is available in three trim levels, Core, Plus and Ultimate. You can have a 67kWh (usable) battery and a single electric motor producing 228bhp, or a 75kWh (usable) battery and two motors (the Twin version) producing a combined 402bhp. Both versions offer around 260 miles of range. The top-spec four-wheel-drive version inches towards the price territory of other premium electric SUVs such as the Audi E-tron and Jaguar I-Pace. The cheaper versions also face stiff competition from the closely related Polestar 2 as well as the Tesla Model 3, Lexus UX300e and higher-spec versions of the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Kia Niro EV, Audi Q4 E-Tron and VW ID.4. So, how does the Volvo XC40 Recharge compare with all of those rivals, and should it be number one on your electric car shopping list?
The Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin's two electric motors drive the front and rear wheels to give you four-wheel drive, and acceleration is mega. With 402bhp and 487lb ft of total torque, the 0-62mph sprint takes just 4.7sec. The quickest Audi E-tron covers the same ground in 5.7sec, and the Kia Niro EV musters a time of 7.8sec. The Tesla Model 3 Performance is quicker still, with a ridiculous 0-60mph time of 3.3sec. The two-wheel-drive single motor XC40 Recharge still provides decent, if not blistering acceleration, and beats the equivalent Audi Q4 E-tron 40 in the sprint from 0-60mph. When it comes to electric cars, performance isn’t just about how quickly they'll go but also how far they'll travel between charges. The official WLTP range goes up to 264 miles for the two-wheel drive version and up to 259 miles for the four-wheel drive Twin. We found that the Twin managed 203 miles in varied real-world driving in fairly middling temperatures. That's not as far as the Model 3 Long Range or Volkswagen ID 4 but it's still decent by class standards. The Audi E-tron 50 quattro and Lexus UX300e don’t even make it to 200 miles of official range, while a range of around 250 miles is par for the course in many other rivals. The light steering in Normal mode feels a touch vague even around town, but if you go to the driver assistance menu and select ‘Steering feels firm’, it's beefed up considerably. We’d be tempted to leave it in that setting all the time. Regardless of the mode, the XC40 Recharge is an assertive yet easy car to drive in any situation. Its response is sharper than the Audi Q4 e-tron’s, but don’t expect it to be as much fun as a Jaguar I-Pace or Ford Mustang Mach-E, nor as mind-bogglingly grippy as the Tesla Model 3 Performance. The XC40 Recharge doesn’t have adaptive suspension (it's not even offered as an option). That's fairly unusual for a premium electric SUV, but the XC40 is one of the more comfortable options in the class anyway. It’s smooth and settled at motorway speeds, and slicks tidily over scruffy town roads as well. Hit a mid-corner pothole or expansion joint and there’s a harsh jolt that the lighter, conventionally powered petrol XC40s would absorb with less fuss. Still, it doesn’t disturb the car’s grip on the road, and by the standards of electric cars the XC40 Recharge is comfortable, even on big, 20in wheels. Being tall and heavy, the XC40 Recharge leans a fair bit through corners, and while it has lots of grip and an abundance of performance, it still feels most at home in relaxed driving. Sure, you can have fun slinging it gamely through corners at fairly remarkable speeds, but there’s no real sense of the XC40 Recharge even trying to be a fun, involving sports SUV so much as a composed, confident family SUV with comical straight-line gusto. The light steering in Normal mode feels a touch vague even around town, but if you go to the driver assistance menu and select ‘Steering feels firm’, it's beefed up considerably. We’d be tempted to leave it in that setting all the time. Regardless of the mode, the XC40 Recharge is an assertive yet easy car to drive in any situation. Just don’t expect it to be as much fun as a Jaguar I-Pace or Ford Mustang Mach-E, nor as mind-bogglingly grippy as the Tesla Model 3 Performance.
There's some mild wind buffeting from around the door mirrors at motorway speeds, plus a low level of road noise, but little more than you’ll experience in the Audi Q4 E-tron. The XC40's electric motors generate some whine during acceleration, though. It's relatively easy to drive smoothly, too. The brakes respond fairly consistently when you squeeze the pedal, plus there's a 'one pedal' driving function so that just lifting off the accelerator gradually slows the car down to a complete stop.
The Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric has an appealing interior, a decent electric range, rapid performance and impressive safety credentials. It’s expensive next to many rivals, but the lower-spec models stack up fairly well next to similarly premium (if often larger and, in some cases, more fun) alternatives.
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