That sinking feeling
But there’s an upside.
no surprise in the XC40 meeting and exceeded our transport expectations with an ease that borders on the insouciant. A pre-warmed cabin, neck-snap acceleration at busy junctions, a superb sound system for pumping out Korean rap (it’s a long story), excellent visibility and plenty of USB ports all work together to make the 35 miles of daily school runs as stress-free as feasibly possible when ferrying teenagers.
A less welcome surprise is how little I’ve warmed to the one-pedal drive mode. I find it too aggressive for smooth progress around town, and it’s a binary on-or-off choice, with no option to modulate the level.
Rather more surprising, in a good way, has been discovering that the Volvo app you’re enThere’s couraged to use to enhance your ownership experience is pretty good – unlike the borderline useless apps that blighted some previous electric longterm test cars, like the Renault Zoe and Nissan Leaf. Volvo’s is easy and reliable to manage the XC40’s home charging schedule, pre-conditioning and security. Incidentally, topping up using public chargers has turned out to be refreshingly swift, thanks to the XC40’s reasonably rapid 200kW charging.
But the biggest surprise came after the Volvo picked up a slow puncture on the front nearside tyre, thanks to a screw that embedded itself head-deep. The slight loss of pressure was immediately flagged up by the car’s tyre-pressure monitoring system, and my wallet simultaneously wilted at the prospect of a probable £250-odd bill for replacing the 235/45 R20 Pirelli P Zero that had covered less than 2000 miles.
Fortunately the screw’s slightly off-centre location meant the chatty lads at the local Kwit Fit could remove it and repair the puncture, all for £32.95. They even topped up the nearly-empty screenwash while the tyre was being repaired – top job, and a very nice surprise. @benwhitworth
Volvo XC40 Twin AWD Ultimate Month 3
The story so far
Yes, this is the flagship XC40. Talk about low-key luxury…
★ Ferocious acceleration; serene isolation; fast-charge capability
- Winter-aicted range; harsh one-pedal driving dicult to modulate
Logbook
Price £60,300 (£61,550 as tested) Performance 78kWh battery, 408bhp, 4.9sec 0-62mph, 112mph, E ciency
3.4 miles per kWh (ocial), 2.5 miles per kWh (tested), 0g/km CO2 Range 270 miles (ocial), 195 miles (tested) Energy cost
13.0p per mile Miles this month
878 Total miles 2085