CAR OF THE WEEK: Volvo’s XC40 is a no-nonsense electric

By Brian Byrne

VOLVO’S XC40 is a deceptive car. The styling suggests it is smaller than it actually is, but its dimensions are similar to Nissan’s Qashqai and it is larger in most measurements than the Range Rover Evoque, which appears bigger. 

My neighbour has an Evoque and that visual comparison was easy when I had the electric version of the XC40, the Recharge, outside my house last week.

I have liked the styling of the XC40 since it first arrived here in early 2018. There’s something about the angular details, almost boxy, that sets it away from the usually curvier competition in the compact SUV space. 

It kind of radiates ‘no nonsense’, as you’d expect from the Swedish brand. A bit of swish is added, in the form of the diamond cut and black alloys. The vehicle was good enough to win Car of the Year accolades in both Europe and Japan as well as the Women’s World COTY in 2018, and the Continental Irish Car of the Year for 2019.

The no-nonsense ethos is also largely true for the interior, which has a fairly classic simplicity in its design and trim, but that latter in high quality. 

The centre screen feels small compared to a lot of what’s out there now, but that’s a plus in my book, requiring less time and head turning to assimilate whatever information it’s showing. 

And a hurrah for the big central knob to adjust volumes. The Google system used for navigation I like, too — it’s appearing more often, in the related Polestar 2 and latest in the new electric Renault Megane. 

The main instruments cluster doesn’t play around with many views — speed on one side, the power/charge indicator on the other, and you can have navigation indication between them or not.

Apart from that all-too-common issue of headroom in the door opening while getting in and out (just tall me and not so supple as I was, in truth), there’s really plenty of room in the XC40. Indeed, given its length, those assigned the rear seats will be pleasantly surprised in most cases. 

All seats are comfortable — I find it’s best to get the view of a passenger in this regard, and on a couple of decent trips she gave the distance comfort a solid thumbs-up. There’s a fair sized boot, with some storage also beneath its floor.

I’ve reviewed the XC40 in different guises since its first arrival, previously in diesel and hybrid power, and also the two-motor Recharge electric version with AWD. My reason for taking it again is the single-motor electric powertrain, less expensive and still a satisfying drive.

There’s no novelty any more in driving electric. Which I figure is a good thing. I get in. I drive. And I rate the experience on its own merits. In this one the 231hp available provided a decent acceleration, something I appreciate most when exiting a couple of regularly problematic busy junctions around my area. The normal relatively silent travel we’re now well used to.

You want to know about range? Yes, of course you do. Volvo claims ‘up to 417km’ with this one. But even with our relatively mild autumn, the lower daytime temperatures, along with the fact I did quite a bit of motorway driving, brought that down to a more realistic 320km. And at that I kept my highway speed at 110km/h instead of lashing at the permitted limit.  No, I didn’t feel I was travelling too slowly. For charging, my local 150kW fast charger pumped in 30pc-95pc in around 35 minutes — enough time to do the Simplex Crossword, now my preferred way of passing such time.

As interest, charging at such a unit these days costs 0.47 cents/kWh — my son’s smartmeter package gives him a middle-of-the-night rate of a fifth of that to charge his PHEV. Just sayin’.

VERDICT

What I liked: No nonsense.

Price:  €53,980 after grant.