[Rachet]

Hello BHPians,
I happened to test drive the Volvo XC 40 Recharge . Thought of sharing my experience with you all.

Starting off with the exterior designing. The whole car looks the same , nothing much has changed with respect to the exterior.The front grill is now closed.



The car gets a staggered set of 19 inch wheels which looks good on the car. The front gets 235/50 R19 and the back gets 255/45 R19. The normal XC 40 has 18 inch wheels.



There is a recharge inscription in the c-pillar .
Fast charging with 150kw DC charging.



The rear end has not changed at all . There is a badge to indicate its Recharge.
The ground clearance of the car has been reduced by 40mm . The normal version of XC 40 has about 210mm of GC , and its 170mm in this one.

Because of the motor and battery pack placement, the space saver tyre has moved up to the boot eating up the space inside. In the normal version it is placed below the boot.



In the absence of an engine, the car gets a front trunk where the charger goes.



I have always been a fan of Volvo's minimalistic interior design. Everything is very neatly laid out. The use of materials inside is the same as what you get to see in the normal XC 40. The quality of plastics used is good.



The car gets a digital instrument cluster and Android powered infotainment system. Wireless charging and two USB-C charging ports are also provided.




There are well planned storage pockets inside the car.The doors get bottle holders, the glove box serves the purpose, the space below the armrest is okay. A small trash can below the arm rest is a nice thought.

The panoramic sunroof gets a swipe to open/close feature which works just fine.

The front two seats get electrical adjustments and only the driver gets memory function. Nice touch of alcantara in the seats. The seats are really comfortable.




A 13 speaker 660 watts Harmon kardon music system is available which does a decent job.



You will be sitting a bit upright in the rear seats. The visibility is good. Nice knee room and head room as well. The presence of the arm rest also adds to the comfort. The rear seat passengers also get two AC vents and two USB-C charging ports.




The huge centre tunnel makes it difficult to squeeze in a third person in the middle. Okay for short trips. The raised floor because of the battery packs also affects the under thigh support. The shoulder room with three people sitting is average.


Driving an EV is something that we need getting used to. I could not feel a thing sitting inside the car. If you are someone who enjoys the engine roar when it comes to life then you will be disappointed. Here you won't even know when the car is started. It's a strange feeling.

The twin motor setup produces 408hp and 660 nm of peak torque which was insane in a car of that size. No wonder how it is able to do 0-100 in 4.9 secs. The ease with which the car moved was so amazing. The ride was comfortable on the 19 inch wheels. It felt so different when I tried to push the car as it pulled with ease without making any sound which is the exact opposite experience that you get from an ICE .


The car also gets a 360 degree camera with sensors which was absent in the normal XC40. The resolution of the camera is great.



Adding to the safety features is the blind spot monitoring system which blinks and indicates whenever a vehicle passes by.



The WLTP range is 419 kms on a single charge. Volvo recommends a service in 30K kms against a service in 10K kms on a normal XC40.
Volvo has not announced the prices yet but the expectation is somewhere around 70-75 lakhs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-z_...ature=youtu.be

[GTO]

Welcome to the gang of EV lovers . 0 - 100 in 4.9 seconds is enough to convince any luxury car owner in India.

Originally Posted by Rachet

Because of the motor and battery pack placement, the space saver tyre has moved up to the boot eating up the space inside. In the normal version it is placed below the boot.

The raised floor because of the battery packs also affects the under thigh support

This is the main problem with ICE vehicles converted to electric. Right from the Nexon EV Max to this Volvo and everything in between. Still, they are great efforts by the respective OEMs to bring EVs quickly to market, and learn about the technology.

The real game-changers will be when these guys come out with cars designed to be EVs from day one. Like the Teslas, we'll see proper frunks, lighter weight, better interior packaging, superior range and more.

Volvo has not announced the prices yet but the expectation is somewhere around 70-75 lakhs.

Website leak showed it as 75-lakhs, although Volvo might tweak the pricing after seeing the BMW i4 & Kia EV6's launch prices. It's too small for 75-lakhs.

[Axe77]

Excellent review. A very attractive product indeed on the performance front but it still doesn’t sound fully convincing vis a vis the i4 or the EV6. The back seat of even the ICE XC40 is spectacularly mediocre - its EV sibling makes it even worse.

I have an ageing diesel notchback in its 7th year and when it hits double digits in age, its going to be a F-A-S-T turbo petrol or an EV that’s going to vie for my attention, as primarily a self drive car.
At this point, my principle gripe is I like spacious well designed cars, with excellent seating comfort for 4 passengers and decent ground clearance. Its the last two parameters where most mid segment EVs (and also most turbo petrol sedans) are falling short. Hopefully by 2025 we’ll have more all round complete offerings in the EV space that address these aspects better.

[shyampsunder]

Originally Posted by GTO

Website leak showed it as 75-lakhs, although Volvo might tweak the pricing after seeing the BMW i4 & Kia EV6's launch prices. It's too small for 75-lakhs.

Volvo will easily undercut the EV6 and i4. The 75 lakh number was thrown around when it was going to be a CBU but now they have announced it's a CKD which comes with a huge tax delta vs ICE. If Volvo wants, they can price the recharge same as the XC40 petrol and still make a good profit on the car. I expect this car to be the most value for money luxury car when it launches. Fingers crossed.

[venom_op]

Originally Posted by Axe77

\ its going to be a F-A-S-T turbo petrol or an EV that’s going to vie for my attention, as primarily a self drive car.

I think the perfect car for you would be an EQS or EQE if it's going to be an EV! Assuming Tesla is not coming to India for the foreseeable future.

Really wish Geely would bring Polestar to India.

[ramji_or]

Excellent write up! Volvo definitely has a solid offering even though this is not an EV built from the ground-up.

I had the chance to test-drive the plug-in hybrid version of XC60 (T8 Recharge 2022) in Australia. It had the combined power/torque figures as 455 HP/711 NM and a claimed 0-100 in 4.5 seconds. It was insanely quick!

With the claimed electric-only range of 75 kms (test drive car showed 50 km range with full battery) and claimed fuel efficiency of around 10KMPL, it was the perfect luxury SUV.

[Rachet]

Originally Posted by ramji_or

With the claimed electric-only range of 75 kms (test drive car showed 50 km range with full battery) and claimed fuel efficiency of around 10KMPL, it was the perfect luxury SUV.

The plug-in hybrid with that kind of power proves to be a complete package. Unfortunately we get only the mild hybrid version in India :(

[ramji_or]

Originally Posted by Rachet

The plug-in hybrid with that kind of power proves to be a complete package. Unfortunately we get only the mild hybrid version in India :(

Indeed it is. I was grinning ear to ear when I came out of that test drive.

I missed to mention that even though Volvo's brochure says that EV only range is upto 75 kms, the test drive vehicle only showed 51 kms range on full battery.

[evolvo]

Originally Posted by shyampsunder

Volvo will easily undercut the EV6 and i4. The 75 lakh number was thrown around when it was going to be a CBU but now they have announced it's a CKD which comes with a huge tax delta vs ICE. If Volvo wants, they can price the recharge same as the XC40 petrol and still make a good profit on the car. I expect this car to be the most value for money luxury car when it launches. Fingers crossed.

You were spot on!

Launched at 55.9 Lacs, it is indeed the most value for money luxury compact SUV right now

[sankarx2]

Buying a good car is an irrational decision. Yet, we not only buy cars, but also find complicated ways to justify our decision. I thought let me be honest here. Choose a car that makes no sense. Book it like you aren's supposed to. And drive it like crazy.

I did the exact same things. And booked a Volvo XC40 Recharge.

Its totally irrational to book anything that will be delivered 5 months later (yes, volvo says waiting time is 5 months). Let alone be a car costing 60 lakh!

Putting 402 bhps in a smallish car is insane. So is a 0-100kmph time of 4.9 secs! Nobody really needs that. And of all the carmakers, a Volvo must never try this much insanity.

Its plain crazy to build a 4x4 that has only 175mm ground clearance. As I went through the specs sheet, I started feeling after all whoever got this car designed didnt pretend he is building a nice car.

I didnt look at the sensible cars this time. Like the Honda city hybrid and the Kia Seltos and all. They are just too suitable for people like me. On paper. But then why do I need a car. There is a Honda Brio in the family which everyone loves. I never needed anything more than that. Most of my official travel is on rentals. My office is 30 minutes walk away from home.

As for timing, there is tremendous chip shortage, waiting times are crazy, prices are rocketing skywords. Not the same persons time to buy a car.

If you have to buy now, go all the way and be insane. Thats what I told myself.

Since it was an irrational decision, I skipped the test drive and didn't bother to check the car in person. I did check couple of useless review videos. Only sane thing about this is I saved myself time to get stuck in traffic and the salesman's aggressive followups.

Volvo website is nicely done. Booking was easy, just as it should be when you are bleeding money through your nose. The website didnt have any useful information, just to convince me that this is it. I have no idea what kind of battery volvo uses (blade? whats its safety records? how many charging cycles?). In fact nothing about Volvo's inside tech is available. Thats perfect as it retains the mystic swedish-chinese aura. The purebred chinese BYD on the other hand tom-tommed their technical nitty gritties. But honestly it felt they are trying to be too sale-oo. Plus these chinese folks are pure chinese.

Since the Volvo ticked all the boxes of craziness I went ahead. Will keep you posted on how the experience goes. Because there is nothing more irrational than to write essays on how your car experience is and other car crazy people will become wiser.

I rejected these cars for being sensible:
GLA35 - its a mercedes and the price for this mercedes, however high, is actually too low
320LD - its a 3 series with too much legspace
New C class - This may lead people to mistakenly think I have arrived in life
Mini Cooper SE - its too easy to park, hence my be carnapped by my wife too often

Wait for updates as I wait for the delivery.

[evolvo]

That’s an interesting and quirky write up, just the way it should be for an equally interesting and quirky mix of car that the XC40 Recharge is

I’ve booked one too few months back…but pin drop silence from Volvo since then. Let’s see how it goes…

[dealer]

Originally Posted by evolvo

I’ve booked one too few months back…but pin drop silence from Volvo since then. Let’s see how it goes…

I too made the booking soon after the online launch. Considering that deliveries are supposed to begin in October, I'm surprised about the lack of communication in this regard. The online store doesn't have any status updates either. Hopefully we receive some updates soon!

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by sankarx2

Buying a good car is an irrational decision. Yet, we not only buy cars, but also find complicated ways to justify our decision.
I did the exact same things. And booked a Volvo XC40 Recharge.

Since the Volvo ticked all the boxes of craziness I went ahead. Will keep you posted on how the experience goes. Because there is nothing more irrational than to write essays on how your car experience is and other car crazy people will become wiser.

Wait for updates as I wait for the delivery.

Welcome to Team BHP. What a delightful opening post.Count me in as a fellow insane trooper following your every step on your journey with this car. This is one car on my horizon when time comes in 2024 to replace my reliable Volvo XC60 thanks to Delhi's 10-year rule on diesels. I simply adore the looks. Some head scratching about rear seat leg space and comfort. But complete faith in Volvo's engineering and reliability and low cost of maintenance and reasonably priced parts. May I request you to write a review on your car after you have clocked in some time and miles on it.

[sankarx2]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

May I request you to write a review on your car after you have clocked in some time and miles on it.

Thank you. Yes, I will certainly post a review. May be a travelogue on a long road trip.

[sankarx2]

Update #1 since booking:

I was passing by the Volvo showroom on the way to a meeting. From the corner of my eyes I caught a glimpse of the car with green plate at the entrance. I was a bit early for the meeting and it made sense to kill some time by checking out the car. This is my first encounter with the car in real world.

The salesperson was not desperate to sell, in a good way. But he mentioned waiting for the car is 11 months. While booking Volvo site returned 5 months! So basically everyone is clueless. Hopefully once deliveries begin things will be clear.

Online reviews were ga-ga about the premiumness of the interior and quality of material. Well I was unimpressed. The dark themed upholstery was ok. Makes a small car look smaller. Rear seat upright. Some fittings probably the dash was giving a mach mach sound. And the spare tyre kept in boot certainly was angry about spirited driving. Only thing premium about the material was the drive selector knob made of crystal. I think the Chinese side of Volvo is trying to use the environment excuse to pass some cost cutting here. Below the driver’s seat I could see wiring harnesses poorly exposed and at the risk of being brushed while cleaning. The xc90 standing next to it was a different story. It definitely had the swede premiumness. The xc40 recharge felt like an MG zS EV minus the grab handles. Yes, they have decided to take the grab handles away. The SA’s excuse for this was grab handles are not good for joints. The excuse for upright back seats was its good for people with back problem. Exposed wiring harness is helpful when a service is needed. I didn’t get enough time to rate it against nexon. But, yeah, maybe nexon will look as classy.

The electronics are fully loaded. No complaints and no surprise there.

The drive was a different thing. I have driven nothing like this ever.

While coming down the ramp, what struck me first, is the car is heavy. So even a very slow roll down from a ramp is going to feel heavy. The car is fast, no doubt. Merc A35 is as fast. But this one is like butter. Absense of the mundane stuff like gearshift, turbo, engine revving to the correct rpm for generating enough torque etc means this machine is like a microwave. I can’t say a beard clipper, as even that makes some noise. It’s not just the absence of noise. The whole drive is uncarlike smooth. I drove a mini (petrol) immediately after that. Felt sorry for the mini. I used to love this chocolatebomb. But one drive of recharge can spoil you so bad. With this kind of drive experience, minis of the world will have to do more than pumping exhaust notes to stay relevant.

One pedal drive is very useful, though it will take some time to get used to. I am sure the auto brake assist will be a life saver, but I could not test it as my reflex to brake was too strong.

Apart from the TD, I tried to do some research on a few issues.

1. Likely direction of prices of lithium battery. Looks like battery raw material prices are not coming down as predicted earlier. This can be a problem after 10 years when one will need to replace a battery. If manufacturers charge a “battery replacement inclusive” (sorry BMW) where I pay 2L now and they assure a replacement after 10 years, it could solve a big anxiety.

2. This car can give 419 km per full charge. On highway on a hot day this may come down to 300km. This means a recharge at 200 km. So a 600km day will require two fast-charges before stopping at a hotel to charge overnight. This takes away range anxiety totally. You can do a long drive on a known routes like Mumbai Goa with a bit of planning. But there is no way you can go on a 15 day road trip into the unknown. No more anxiety. It’s certain.

3. In Mumbai the rate card looked unreal with road tax and registration practically less than 1000 bucks for corporate registration. That’s a 10 lakh discount. Has companies discovered this yet? I expect companies to look at electrics for senior management before individuals. Together with depreciation benefits it makes great sense.

4. While the government is willing to let go of their share for environment, the insurance guys are not. A Volvo name, ncap 5, adas, greenness… their algorithm doesn’t consider these for arriving at pricing.

5. It’s very difficult to get information about green meter connection from MSEDCL. How to get one? How green it is?

Thank you for the patience. Your comments, rebuttal, ideas and information are welcome on these.