Volvo XC40 Recharge reviews

This is also one I am really looking forward to getting to check out in person.

Went and checked out the ICE version in person at the local dealer, and it’s a super nice vehicle. Shorter than my model 3 (easier to park in my garage and about town), but practical hatchback style and good ground clearance.
 
I wish it were a little bigger, more like rav4 size. I'd like to put 2 mtn bikes in the back, but I think it's going to be too small for that.
 
papab said:
I wish it were a little bigger, more like rav4 size. I'd like to put 2 mt bikes in the back, but I think it's going to be too small for that.
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I have put my mountain bike and road bike with the wheels off and the back seats down in my Kona and its smaller than the XC40. The XC40 is 10 inches longer and 100 inch wider then the Kona, definitely more room. So I would think you cold get two mountain bikes in an XC40. When my lease is up on the Kona in 2 years I am planing on getting an XC40.
 
I've got some questions about this review. I didn't watch the whole thing but...

And yes, I feel the XC-40 is expensive (but priced reasonably) and yes the XC-40 is heavy and inefficient (but fun to drive) and most importantly it's not a Tesla (for all that means both good and bad).

1) The manufacturer suggests daily charge be limited to 90% thereby reducing daily range. One can assume they don't want you to empty the battery either further limiting your daily range. The reviewer suggests that most people will ignore this because they are leasing the vehicle. Since most people don't drive close to 200 miles per day I really don't see this as the issue he does.

2) He continues by comparing the range to two not yet released vehicles. I'm not sure that's entirely fair. Additionally the entry level Mach-E only has 2 more miles of range and you give up all wheel drive for the highest range. The id.4 seems to be a better comparison.

3) He compares price to the e-pace and not the i-pace. That seems odd to me. He also compared it to the Evoque which only has an ICE and hybrid US variants. A price comparison to the Y seems fairer, and that's a wash for most people because of rebates.

4) He closes talking about the efficiency and how terrible it is. Yup, he's right, but if all you care about is efficiency then buy a Tesla. I think a lot of Volvo buyers are buying because "it's not a Tesla" or because the very features that help with the efficiency (shape, style) are the things they don't like.

I feel like we are in the same place we got to a few years ago with phones. All the flagships were too expensive and nearly identical because buyers became fascinated with the numbers (primarily because of YouTube reviewers) and not real world usability. We are starting to see that market open up with people trading screen resolution for more battery life or offering folding phones and smaller phones or phones without 17 different camera lenses. I strongly believe Tesla was right to focus on range and efficiency to open up the market. I hope that other manufacturers jump into the market and start offering much cheaper cars with reasonable daily ranges to be used as the family second car.
 
Stephen Cerruti said:
I've got some questions about this review. I didn't watch the whole thing but...

And yes, I feel the XC-40 is expensive (but priced reasonably) and yes the XC-40 is heavy and inefficient (but fun to drive) and most importantly it's not a Tesla (for all that means both good and bad).

1) The manufacturer suggests daily charge be limited to 90% thereby reducing daily range. One can assume they don't want you to empty the battery either further limiting your daily range. The reviewer suggests that most people will ignore this because they are leasing the vehicle. Since most people don't drive close to 200 miles per day I really don't see this as the issue he does.

2) He continues by comparing the range to two not yet released vehicles. I'm not sure that's entirely fair. Additionally the entry level Mach-E only has 2 more miles of range and you give up all wheel drive for the highest range. The id.4 seems to be a better comparison.

3) He compares price to the e-pace and not the i-pace. That seems odd to me. He also compared it to the Evoque which only has an ICE and hybrid US variants. A price comparison to the Y seems fairer, and that's a wash for most people because of rebates.

4) He closes talking about the efficiency and how terrible it is. Yup, he's right, but if all you care about is efficiency then buy a Tesla. I think a lot of Volvo buyers are buying because "it's not a Tesla" or because the very features that help with the efficiency (shape, style) are the things they don't like.

I feel like we are in the same place we got to a few years ago with phones. All the flagships were too expensive and nearly identical because buyers became fascinated with the numbers (primarily because of YouTube reviewers) and not real world usability. We are starting to see that market open up with people trading screen resolution for more battery life or offering folding phones and smaller phones or phones without 17 different camera lenses. I strongly believe Tesla was right to focus on range and efficiency to open up the market. I hope that other manufacturers jump into the market and start offering much cheaper cars with reasonable daily ranges to be used as the family second car.
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Here’s the best review I’ve seen on YouTube:



Sent from my iPad using Inside EVs
 
Stephen Cerruti said:
I've got some questions about this review. I didn't watch the whole thing but...

I feel like we are in the same place we got to a few years ago with phones. All the flagships were too expensive and nearly identical because buyers became fascinated with the numbers (primarily because of YouTube reviewers) and not real world usability. We are starting to see that market open up with people trading screen resolution for more battery life or offering folding phones and smaller phones or phones without 17 different camera lenses. I strongly believe Tesla was right to focus on range and efficiency to open up the market. I hope that other manufacturers jump into the market and start offering much cheaper cars with reasonable daily ranges to be used as the family second car.
Click to expand...

I agree that there is an unhealthy obsession with range. Most people drive less than 100 miles a day and can charge overnight at home. After driving a Tesla from Pittsburgh to outside Detroit (2 supercharger stops) I decided that EVs are just not for long trips. Sure, you can do it, but stopping for 30 minutes every 2 hours is really not a fun time (the first time, we had lunch... the second time... sucked).

That said, the XC40 Recharge seems really, really bad when it comes to efficiency. I could use it for my daily driver, but I haven't felt range anxiety like this since I drove an i3 for a couple weeks. I would like to use it to visit my in-laws -- 115 mile drive. I'm genuinely worried that a bad wind might mean I don't make it unless I drive under the speed limit.
SeanH said:
In the US, the official range number is only 208 miles (totally normal for our EPA rating to be less than the European one). I don't know whether that is supposed to include the heat pump (or running the heat period).
I did a consumption test on Monday with the car at the dealership (top spec, 20" wheels, heat pump, etc). I got on the highway and just outside the city it changes to 70mph speed limit. I set the cruise control to 80mph and reset the manual tripometer. I drove for about 10 minutes, got off at an exit and immediately back an and drove back to where the speed limit dropped back to 65mph. Outside temp was 31 deg F and I had the heat set to 66 deg F inside the car.
I got a truly abysmal 58kWh/100 miles. That translates to around 1.7 miles / kWh. That would actually get pretty close to your 125 miles of range. For comparison, my Kona EV in the same test gets closer to 3 miles/kWh. I was prepared for less range on the XC40 (despite it having a 20% larger battery), but 125 miles on the highway is just silly.
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SeanH said:
Exact comparisons are hard :)
I just did a test with the Kona, but some things are different.
It was 10 degrees warmer, but I still had the heat on.
My Kona has a resistive heater, the XC40 has a heat pump.
My Kona is wearing Blizaks WS90s, not all seasons.
It was much windier today, though I do a round trip for the test and the wind was mostly a cross wind.
For this same stretch (resetting the meter when up to speed), I got 2.7 miles per kWh.
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SeanH said:
I agree that there is an unhealthy obsession with range. Most people drive less than 100 miles a day and can charge overnight at home. After driving a Tesla from Pittsburgh to outside Detroit (2 supercharger stops) I decided that EVs are just not for long trips. Sure, you can do it, but stopping for 30 minutes every 2 hours is really not a fun time (the first time, we had lunch... the second time... sucked).
.
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I'm a future EV owner, Help me understand this. Pittsburgh to Detroit is 286 miles, why did you have to stop twice? What is the range on the Tesla that you were driving?
 
papab said:
I'm a future EV owner, Help me understand this. Pittsburgh to Detroit is 286 miles, why did you have to stop twice? What is the range on the Tesla that you were driving?
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I don't remember exactly which model we used (70, 85 or 90), but let's say the rated range was around 250 miles. We were definitely going closer to 80mph than 60mph, so we didn't get anywhere close to that... let's call it 200 miles. So you need to stop at least once. And then once we stopped, we didn't charge until full, we charged for like 30 minutes. And then we stopped again before we got to the hotel because they didn't have a level 2 charger there and we needed to be able to drive it the next day.
So, there's absolutely no way we could've gone 286 miles on a single charge, and if we only charged once, we still would've been potentially less than half when we got to the destination, plus we didn't charge it to full the first time we stopped (especially since the charging rate ramps down).

I'm all for EVs. But I can't see myself road-tripping in one, even with 200KW+ superchargers. When you stick a fuel pump into your car, my back of the napkin math says over 1MW comes out.
I have an ICE car for long distance trips.
 
SeanH said:
I'm all for EVs. But I can't see myself road-tripping in one, even with 200KW+ superchargers. When you stick a fuel pump into your car, my back of the napkin math says over 1MW comes out.
I have an ICE car for long distance trips.
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I think it depends on driving style. I thought I would keep my Volvo S60 for road trips after I bought my Hyundai Kona Electric. But after a year of the Volvo siting in the garage I sold it because I wasn't using at all, which is not good for an ICE to sit for long periods. The kona can easily go over 240 miles on a charge and if I slow down a bit I can hit 300 miles on a charge. I have taken road trips over 2000 miles without any issues. I am on the west cost and the charging infrastructure is very strong which is a good for me. When I leased the car there were very few DCFC with in 100 miles (I live in the country). Now there are over 70 DCFC. If your in Montana or Wyoming that is probably not the case. For long road trips (more than 600 miles in a day), I just plan my charging stops with meal stops. I also tend to relax on road trips and not get bothered if little delays come up. I know its not for everyone but I am fine with a long range EV on a road trip
 
Fastnf said:
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I think it depends on driving style. I thought I would keep my Volvo S60 for road trips after I bought my Hyundai Kona Electric. But after a year of the Volvo siting in the garage I sold it because I wasn't using at all, which is not good for an ICE to sit for long periods. The kona can easily go over 240 miles on a charge and if I slow down a bit I can hit 300 miles on a charge. I have taken road trips over 2000 miles without any issues. I am on the west cost and the charging infrastructure is very strong which is a good for me. When I leased the car there were very few DCFC with in 100 miles (I live in the country). Now there are over 70 DCFC. If your in Montana or Wyoming that is probably not the case. For long road trips (more than 600 miles in a day), I just plan my charging stops with meal stops. I also tend to relax on road trips and not get bothered if little delays come up. I know its not for everyone but I am fine with a long range EV on a road trip
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We are already a 2-car household (at least assuming work-from-home ends), so that helps. I've been hunting for a good plug-in hybrid option for the other vehicle, but that's a whole other topic.
I agree that the range on the Kona is excellent, especially in the summer (I have a 2019 Ultimate). But sometimes I just want to get where I'm going as fast as possible. DC would've been doable (but still has me stopping for 45 minutes, a 20% increase). Going to visit my family in CT would be brutal (adding over 2 hours).
 
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