Smooth is name of the game
XC40 RECHARGE ULTIMATE: DRIVES ‘LIKE A VOLVO BUT WITH BETTER ACCELERATION’ Since it’s batterypowered, the question of engine size is moot.
Of the myriad questions I got asked while testing the Volvo XC40 Recharge Ultimate a fortnight ago, two stick in my mind: “What’s it like to drive?” and “How big is the engine?”
My answers were, I thought, accurate and perfectly informative but it was perhaps their brevity that left my questioners looking at me as if I’d been rude... “like a Volvo but with better acceleration” and “there isn’t one” were perfectly adequate responses, I thought.
Just because the XC40 is an electric vehicle (EV) doesn’t mean its wheels are square or that it drives “funny”.
It’s just a car – SUV-in-the-making in this case – with a different propulsion system and, because it’s battery-powered, the question of engine size is moot.
All this goes to show that, generally speaking, this nation of self-proclaimed mobility geniuses (in this case, the words “automotive” and “petrolhead” would be wholly inappropriate) knows next-to-nothing about EVs.
If you’ve ever driven a Volvo, especially the newer models, you’ll know they’re a pleasure both behind the wheel and as a passenger. They’re brimful of goodies, gadgets and features to simultaneously satisfy safety-conscious European Union bureaucrats and placate their teenage spawn.
Actually, to be completely honest, they’re a delight to drive on the open road for that brief period between pulling away from a recharging station to the moment when range-anxiety kicks in.
The be er questions to ask about driving an EV:
▶ How good is South Africa’s vehicle-recharging infrastructure? Poor but gradually improving.
▶ How do you determine where recharging stations are located? Volvo EV on-board computers are Google-linked.
▶ How long does it take to recharge the high-voltage battery? Between a long and very long time.
▶ How much does it cost to recharge? I’m told it’s around R200. What happens if you get to a recharge station and it’s occupied? The wait gets much longer.
▶ What if there’s load shedding while you’re recharging? You should be able to continue but the power surge, if you were already recharging, will interrupt the process and you’ll need to start again.
Let us remove recharging and its attendant mind-numbing tedium from the equation and pretend range-anxiety is a figment of our imaginations...
The joy of an EV – apart from being “clean” technology – is that not only is power (300kW) instantly available, it is fed equally to all four wheels.
This makes the XC40 Recharge incredibly responsive to the lightest touch on the accelerator and, provided you don’t overreact to the whoosh! from the twin electric motors when you overtake slow-moving traffic, stability matches agility.
Taking it smooth is as much the name of the game driving this Swedish cross-over as it is when piloting a Bugatti or Ferrari.
The Volvo XC40 Recharge, incidentally, goes from
0 – 100km/h in 4.8 seconds (a BMW M3 does it in 3.6); not bad for a 2 650kg seven-seat family transporter.
From which you might gather that the XC40 – while it might be little brother to both the Volvo XC60 and XC90 – is not a small vehicle. With a length of 4.425m (2.7m wheelbase and width of just more than 2m), the turning circle is a horrid 11.4m.
Looks and styling are a plus:
Looks and styling are a plus
Volvo has made huge strides on this front over the past few decades and owners of the whole XC model range can now say their vehicles are “good-looking” as well as “safe”, “reliable” and “comfortable”.
The Swedes could, however, have done better than equip the XC40 with a nose suited to a heavyweight boxer.
Yes, something more menacing such as the front of the XC60 would have been a triumph of form over function – there is, after all, no need to allow air in through a front grille to help cool the engine – but having a pretty schnozz has never detracted from anyone’s gravitas. Greta Thunberg is a case in point.
It was at a recharging station – one that sported only slow 22kW AC power outlets – that I had my laugh of the week.
A curious madala watched me lift the bonnet to get to the AC recharging cable which is kept in a small bin in the centre of what would conventionally be the engine compartment.
The old man wasn’t too fazed by the absence of anything mechanical – he’d obviously encountered the Volkswagens of yore at some time in his life – and wandered round to the back.
When he saw there wasn’t anything there other than a tailgate to a very spacious stowage “boot”, confusion was writ large on his face. I could see he was dying to ask the question but too polite to do so.
The Volvo XC40 Recharge Ultimate has a price tag of nearly R1.3 million including VAT. It’s sold with a five-year/100 000km vehicle warranty and full maintenance plan, and an eight-year/ 160 000km battery warranty.