Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
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, 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.