Out on the town with stylish, masked-up Volvo Recharge
DETROIT — One of my favorite SUV personalities is the Volvo XC40. Cleverly designed inside and out, unique looks, Android operating system, legroom, storage aplenty.
And now it has a pair of electric 2022 Recharge siblings. Though it’s gonna be tough to beat the 355-mile-range gas model. On a wintry April day in Detroit, I had to make a trip with my son, future daughter-in-law and wife to Charlevoix, in northern Michigan, to check out a wedding venue. With its good rear legroom and clever amenities, I was eager to show the XC40 Recharge off to the clan — but with only 223 miles of electric range, Recharge would complicate our estimated 560-mile round trip.
So I took a good ol’ diesel Cadillac Escalade instead. Range: 440 miles. One five-minute fill-up, no worries.
The lesson? Buy the XC40 Recharge if you have a gas ute in the garage for long trips. Then use Recharge as your daily commuter, as most EV owners do.
Recharge boasts familiar Swedish XC40 styling cues with squared-off bod, floating back roof,
Vehicle type: Batteryelectric, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $52,795 base, $60,540 C40 Recharge Twin Ultimate (as tested)
Powerplant: 75-kwh lithium-ion battery driving twin electric motors
Power: 402 horsepower, 486 pound-feet of torque
Performance:
0-60 mph, 4.3 seconds (XC40 Recharge)
Fuel economy: 223-mile range
boomerang tail-lamps, Thor’s-hammer headlights and Volvo badge ’n’ stripe logo on the grille.
Well, where the grille used to be. With no need for air to feed a gas engine behind, the grille wears a face-covering over its mouth. Brands are still struggling with how to present their EV faces.
The Recharges are quick. Our pals at Car and Driver recorded a hearty 4.3-second 0-60 dash. I shot out of a Detroit stoplight in the XC40 Recharge ahead of an unsuspecting Mustang.
Just don’t overdo it into the next 90-degree corner. Despite the battery anchored low in their bellies, the Recharges have little interest in pulling side-gs.
Where Recharge really earns its love is inside. The interior is familiar Volvo, not sci-fi Polestar, but it shares the same Android operating system with a screen as intuitive to operate as my phone. The instrument screen is a digital beauty and the adaptive cruise control quite competent. The standard panoramic roof overhead is easy to operate — just swipe your finger along a pad in the direction you want it opened/closed.
Clever storage is everywhere — most impressively in the “fishbox” as the Swedes like to call it. That’s removable trash bin to us Yanks. It’s useful for storing trash you don’t want to be sticking in door pockets. Remove and empty when it fills. Why doesn’t every car have one?
For Volvo fans, XC40 and C40 Recharge will have some clear benefits. In addition to those clever features, the twin electric motors make for a silkysmooth driving experience. And Recharge offers an EV favorite feature: regenerative braking so you can one-pedal drive around town. It’s a tough market out there for EV adoption, but it helps having an outgoing Volvo Recharge personality.
2022 Volvo XC40 and C40 Recharge
Try another, fresh new 2032 (the most popular) battery. Your previous replacement may be bad. Price on the street is about six bucks.
Q: In a recent column, you say that the intake valves on direct injection engines only see fresh air. Isn’t it true that the PCV system is piped into the intake manifold? Incidentally, I own a 2017 Honda CR-V with the 2.4L engine, no turbo. I bring this up only to point out that there are lots of videos online promoting the use of oil catch cans to prevent an excessive amount of contaminants from reaching the intake valves through the system.
— J.H., Palatine, Illinois A: OK. The air isn’t pristine as it passes the intake valves. But I didn’t want my answer to go too deep on a technical tangent about the valves’ propensity to crud up due to positive crankcase ventilation, or PCV.
Yes, it does happen, and the stuff is not easy to remove. Cleaning the valves often requires you to yank the cylinder head if walnut shell blasting doesn’t clean the valves.
Sadly, neither a gasoline additive such as Techron nor Top Tier gasoline will prevent intake valve buildup on direct injection engines. Don’t get me started on such esoteric topics again any time soon.
Q: I have a 2016 Subaru Forester. I’m getting older and sometimes don’t turn my turn signals off (don’t/can’t hear it) after changing lanes. Changing lanes doesn’t activate the automatic shut off for the signal like a full turn does. Do they make a replacement turn signal device (relay) that has a louder clicking sound?
— P.N., Sioux Falls, South Dakota
A: I am not aware of an aftermarket turn signal amplifier. But try this: Press lightly on the turn signal handle, not hard enough to pass the tactile pop. The signals will flash until you release the handle. Most new cars come with a short duration blink that provides three pulses if you tap the handle and immediately let go. Don’t forget to check the blinking arrows on your dash.
Q: My employee was just in the truck with the A/C running and I told him it’s wasting gas. He told me that if you don’t put your foot on the pedal, you are not really using the gas. I wanted to know if that is true. If you are just in parking lot and don’t use the A/C, are you using less gas?
— S.C., Davie, Florida A: Any time the engine is running, you are using gas, no matter whether you are using the A/C or not. But running the A/C as well as any accessory — even the heater — you are using more.