Ordering process has been a little rough

Stephen Cerruti

Stephen Cerruti

Member
Lots of fine print, very poorly worded emails when placing the deposit.

I got an email request for my 'preferred' Volvo dealership and when I replied to the email I got back a form email saying terms and conditions attached. Nothing was attached. I replied back and got a message that they were "Looking into it" and never heard back.

Got my email today and tried to reserve it. Configured the vehicle and there was no "Reserve Yours" link on the summary page as indicated in the email. Customer support is telling me it's supposed to be where I see "save configuration."

Am I alone?
 
Similar, but not quite as bad. The "choose your dealer" email process worked better for me.

I also was confused about "save"-ing in the configuration tool. I thought it was more of a "save your progress (and continue later)" thing, but that's the SUBMIT button in disguise :)
 
The drama continues, today I got a second set of emails from Volvo confirming my order. One has a different number on it than all of the other emails I have received.
 
Stephen Cerruti said:
The drama continues, today I got a second set of emails from Volvo confirming my order. One has a different number on it than all of the other emails I have received.
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Hey there, just wondering how your ordering process has gone since your last post. We have at least one member receive their Recharge now, so wondering if you have received a date or anything.
 
TL;DR - Excited, approximate delivery end of March, did a test drive in a demo, worried about charger installation.

Great timing.

I did trade emails at that time with Volvo and they did confirm that everything was A-OK despite the confusing messages. I was contacted during November or December by the internet sales person at the local dealership I had specified. I had asked some followup questions at that point and didn't have any answers for me and seemed disconnected. This combined with our previous visit to see a regular XC40 was disconcerting, this is a huge purchase for me, much more that I ever felt I would spend on a car. I want the dealer to be excited for me.

During the holidays I visited another local dealer and talked about that, the salespersons there were much more engaged with us when we visited. We learned their demo was arriving the last week of December and they already had delivery dates for their preorders.

I called my dealership and arranged a test drive of their demo last week. My wife (it's going to be her car) really enjoyed the vehicle. While the dealer still doesn't have information about discounts on chargers they are at least aware that this is information they don't have and are going to be proactive about notifying me. The dealer was so much more engaged on this visit. So right now I am significantly more at ease that the purchase process will go well.

During that same time period I was notified that the build had been scheduled and I could no longer make changes to the order. The dealer was able to provide us with a report that showed an estimated delivery of our vehicle around the end of March.

Where Volvo is now:

Volvo could improve their communication with regards to direct sales to customers including creating a better self serve portal that provided information.
Volvo needs to get information about any discounts on chargers out to dealers and customers ASAP.
Volvo, since it is introducing a new product, should foster the development of local communities to provide mutual support.

Where I am now:

I have a very difficult home charge installation that now has the added pressure of a ticking clock.
I still have range anxiety. I have been at the forefront of people saying we need more choices with less range to handle second cars used only for commuting, but range anxiety is real.
I still have anxiety about not purchasing a Tesla. (Mitigated by styling and availability of rebates.)
I am really impressed with the vehicle. It meets my needs of being a really well built car that offers the styling I want and meeting the needs of my wife's daily commute. It is significantly better than our second choice the Niro to drive. That being said, if it was my car I might by the Niro because I'm that cheap.
Oh, and I have to clean out the garage because the car won't fit currently.
 
Thanks for all that! Happy that you guys could get a test drive and that your wife liked it.

Regarding your home charger situation, are you having trouble deciding on which EVSE or is there a house wiring issue? I can't speak to your situation, but I still haven't installed a wall unit (EVSE) because I've been getting by just fine on the low-power travel charge cord that came with my car. I can easily get enough energy to drive 40 or more miles a day (I don't actually drive that much, so I don't even plug it in every day).
 
Stephen Cerruti said:
I still have range anxiety. I have been at the forefront of people saying we need more choices with less range to handle second cars used only for commuting, but range anxiety is real.
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Once you get the car and become familiar with it the range anxiety will dissipate very rapidly. I had range anxiety for the first few weeks I owned my Hyundai Kona. Then I took it on a 2000 mile road trip. After that I had very little range anxiety. You get used to the car and it becomes as normal as driving a ICE car.

I like the XC40 recharge and am definitely considering it among the options when my leas is up. My concern is if I am will to give up the 50 miles in range I would loose over the Kona. If it has faster charging then its fine if not I will consider other options. Which is kind of stupid since I rearely drive over 100 miles in a day. Maybe once or twice a year I do a long road trip. and during covid I haven't done any so 200 mile of range would be more than adequate.
 
My wife has a 90 mile per day commute so nightly charging using an EVSE will be required. I am in a condo, I have a private garage that is in the same structure but not connected to my unit. (She currently gets about 20 MPG so that's really helping me justify the cost of the vehicle.)

Electricians want to run conduit on the outside of the building. I would prefer to add a second panel separate from the main panel inside the garage. The electric meters are located on the outside wall of my garage. I think it is just need to find the right electrician.

Ultimately this is why we currently need some of these incentives. With California's plan to go 100% EV we are going to need to ensure that existing buildings can be more easily upgraded to handle charging especially multifamily units that are often the last to benefit from new cost saving technologies.
 
Stephen Cerruti said:
My wife has a 90 mile per day commute so nightly charging using an EVSE will be required. I am in a condo, I have a private garage that is in the same structure but not connected to my unit. (She currently gets about 20 MPG so that's really helping me justify the cost of the vehicle.)

Electricians want to run conduit on the outside of the building. I would prefer to add a second panel separate from the main panel inside the garage. The electric meters are located on the outside wall of my garage. I think it is just need to find the right electrician.

Ultimately this is why we currently need some of these incentives. With California's plan to go 100% EV we are going to need to ensure that existing buildings can be more easily upgraded to handle charging especially multifamily units that are often the last to benefit from new cost saving technologies.
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Unless her entire commute is at 70 mph that should be doable. In slower traffic the range goes way up. The Kona at 18 mph has arrange of over 600 miles. If she has slow and go traffic on the commute there will be no problem with range. Lots of other options to get more range: A quick 10 minute DCFC will add an extra 50 miles. A lunch time level 2 charge will add 25-30 miles. If there is an available 110 plug at work, 8 hours on the granny chager can add 25-35 miles. I have found that if I look like the range is going to be short say ten miles I can always drop my speed from 70 to 50 miles a hour and get 20 miles instead of 10 miles. Try that in an Ice car. In California (where I am as well ) you won't have the big winter drop in range that people in colder climates get.

I agree with you on the second panel in the garage. That should be possible though it may not be as cheap as running a conduit. Is the main panel in the garage or the condo? If its in the condo then the feed from the meter would need to go to the garage panel and feed the condo form the new panel in the garage. Again possible put probably not cheap.

I agree with you on the incentives.
 
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The commute is mostly at highway speeds. There is a huge elevation difference (~1500 ft), it's up in the morning and down in the afternoon.

San Diego was putting chargers in at schools and I was hoping to get one at her site when they put up the solar panels but unfortunately all the plans were in place.

My laymen's understanding is that when the panel is in an area you can add a second panel connected to the same meter. I'm holding out hope for that. Alternatively it would be nice to put a new panel in the garage and make it the main panel and then use the current wiring to make the existing panel the secondary thus avoiding running new wires from the meter to the existing panel.
If neither of those options work then I'll have to be satisfied with the electrician running a line for a NEMA 14-50 outlet from the panel back to the garage. I'm worried about the whole HOA process.
 
Is the commute 90 miles round trip or one way?

On the electrical meter if there is a main breaker and room for a second breaker you can just add a breaker to feed the new panel. If there is no breaker and it just a meter with a direct feed to the condo panel you would need to have the meter feed the new panel and the new panel have a breaker to feed the condo. You cannot double tap (connect two boxes to) a meter unless the panel has a breaker for it. I have a meter with a breaker for the main panel, the garage and solar. The main breaker feeds a panel that feeds multiple panels. Here's a couple of pictures

IMG_2667.webp IMG_2670.webp
 
It's 90 miles total. I would not have put an electric vehicle, even a Tesla onto a 180 mile commute. It would require approximately 6 hours of home charging per day for most setups. I realize that Tesloop existed on this model, but I'm not sure it works for normal people.
 
You will have no problems with a 90 mile total commute. I venture a guess that any range anxiety will be gone in a week or two of driving. You also won't have any problem with the elevation. I say that because I am at 4000 ft in Tehachapi and it is a 3500 foot drop down to Bakersfield and about 100 miles round trip and I always arrive back at the house with over 140 mile left. I realize the Kona is more efficient but it got twice the climb to make on that drive. Even at charging to 90% I think you will be ok. It also nice that the return trip is down hill. Mine is always up hill.
 
Impressed with volvo sending me container ship tracking links for where the car is currently. even includes pictures of the boat
 

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  • Banners_and_Alerts_and_MarineTraffic__Global_Ship_Tracking_Intelligence___AIS_Marine_Traffic.webp
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I am very happy to report that your XC40 Recharge is now in transit to the United States aboard the transport ship MORNING LENA. The link I provided will allow you to track the ship all the way to the U.S. I should note that MarineTraffic.com is a third-party site, and Volvo Car USA is not responsible for any information posted there.
 
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