ALAN DOUGLAS: Is this electric Volvo XC40 Recharge Ultimate worth the hefty price tag?
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So you’ve decided to take the plunge and embrace the electric revolution. You may have agonised over the move but that’s the easy bit. The challenge now is which brand and model to plump for.
If price is a prime consideration, the choices are limited to a couple of bargain-basement models such as the EVs from MG, but you get what you pay for and the build quality and possibly long-term reliability may not be as good as the more expensive alternatives.
Spend a bit more and there’s a lot on offer from some excellent mid-range cars from the likes of Skoda and Kia or the more expensive Audi, Jaguar or Lexus. Alternatively you could follow the herd and cough up more than you need to for the perceived status of a Tesla on your drive but face some questions about build quality, reliability and charging availability.
That’s something you won’t have to think about if you go for a Volvo like the compact crossover the XC40. It now comes as petrol hybrid or pure electric only, which is all the more surprising since the model has been with us for less than six years.
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Volvo call their electric models Recharge and have bold plans to see them account for more than half their sales in the very near future.
The featured test car is the top-of-the-range Ultimate model with a single electric motor producing a very handy 231 hp and instant acceleration up to 60mph in just seven seconds.
There is a twin motor version but that will cost you almost £12,000 more than the already pretty pricey base model and the only benefits are just a bit more power and slightly longer range.
Volvo of course has a very strong following, a band of loyal customers who recognise and appreciate the brand’s quality, emphasis on safety – they invented the lap and diagonal seat belt – and stylish design, especially of the interior.
I liked the XC40 Recharge’s understated styling and high-quality interior but it took a bit of getting used to on the road. The brakes are effective but can be severe and it was more comfortable to keep it in one-pedal mode where you hardly ever have to use the brake, relying on the regeneration system to slow down and even bring the car to a halt while also topping up the battery.
The steering is quite light but you can adjust that through the driver assistance settings if you want a firmer feel through the wheel.
The ride is smooth and the suspension does well to absorb some of the dodgy surfaces we have to endure after the ravages of winter and strained council repair budgets.
The interior is superbly comfortable, smart and stylish, dominated by a nine-inch, tablet-style touchscreen in the centre of the dash, through which almost every function is controlled. That means there’s no clutter of switches and buttons around the rest of the dash but the downside is that you have to navigate the menu to do virtually everything including adjusting the climate control and radio channels which can be a real hassle and distracting too.
There’s also no start or stop button – if you’re sitting in the driver’s seat, you just select Drive and away you go, but that can be a bit disconcerting and I’d prefer to be able to shut down the system, especially when recharging.
On that subject, range is an issue. The official claimed figure is around 259 miles on a full charge but I struggled to get up to 200 and that plummeted when I switched on the lights, wipers, heated screen and air-con.
Overall I liked the car but it is pricey and I couldn’t help thinking that you could get the same Volvo-ish quality in its cousin, the impressive Polestar 2 – and you’d save quite a few quid too.
CAR: Volvo XC40 Recharge Ultimate
PRICE: £45,750 (£55,050 as tested)
ENGINE: Recharge FWD 69kWh
POWER: 231 hp
TORQUE: 330 Nm
TOWING CAPACITY: 1500 kgs (braked)
PERFORMANCE: Top speed 99mph. 0-60mph 7 secs
RANGE: 259 miles
CHARGING TIME: 28 mins (150kW to 80 per cent) 11 hrs (11kW)
