It has a long name, but the Volvo XC40 Recharge Plug-In Hybrid T5 R-Design is a fuss-free and efficient small SUV.
Paul
MaricManaging Editor
PROS
- Impressive interior fit, finish
and presentation
- Surprising amount of interior
leg room, head room and cargo space
- Punchy
plug-in hybrid drivetrain
CONS
- Brake pedal feel could be
better
- Only available in front-wheel
drive
- Big step up in price over T5
R-Design
The Volvo
XC40 aims to be different in a world of same-same SUVs. Not only in design, but
in terms of packaging – and now, drivetrain offering.
Volvo now
offers a plug-in hybrid version of every SUV it sells, with a fully-electric
version of the compact XC40 soon to follow.
What you’re
looking at here is the (deep breath) 2020 Volvo XC40 Recharge Plug-In Hybrid T5
R-Design (phew). It’s new to the Australian market and paves the way for the
full electric XC40 Recharge, which is due to arrive locally by mid-2021.
The XC40
Recharge PHEV is also a little different to Volvo’s other plug-in hybrid
models, it isn’t positioned as a sporty pinnacle to the range. Instead, it
focuses on efficiency under the guise of an R-Design shell.
How much
does the Volvo XC40 Recharge cost?
The entire
XC40 range kicks off from $46,990 before on-road costs for the XC40 T5
Momentum.
Volvo’s
XC40 Recharge PHEV will be the most expensive XC40 on sale in Australia until
the electric version arrives. Priced from $64,990 before on-road costs, it
costs $8000 more than its nearest internal-combustion cousin, which is the XC40
T5 R-Design.
There are
seven colours to choose from. Solid black is free of charge, while all metallic
and pearl colours are an additional $1150.
There’s not
a mountain of optional extras to choose from. The most obvious packages are a
comfort package ($900) that adds a heated steering wheel and front seats, a
lifestyle package ($3000) that adds a premium harman/kardon sound system,
panoramic sunroof, and privacy glass, and a technology pack ($1900) with a
360-degree camera, semi-automatic parking and adaptive dampers.
What do
you get?
There’s a
high level of standard equipment included in the XC40 R-Design.
On the
outside you’ll find 20-inch alloy wheels, a black roof, wing mirrors and roof
rails, adaptive LED headlights with LED daytime running lights, LED tail
lights, an automatic tailgate with foot operation, front and rear parking
sensors, and the port for charging located at the front on the passenger side.
Inside the
cabin you’ll find leather seats with Alcantara inserts, wireless phone
charging, a 9.0-inch portrait infotainment system with wired Apple CarPlay and
Android Auto, a TFT display ahead of the driver in place of analogue gauges,
radar cruise control, eight-speaker stereo, a reverse-view camera, electric
seat adjustment for driver and passenger, and proximity key entry and start.
Is the
Volvo XC40 safe?
The Volvo
XC40 scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating when it was first tested in 2018.
When
tested, the XC40 received an excellent adult occupant safety rating of 97 per
cent, a 84 per cent child occupant protection rating, a 71 per cent vulnerable
road user safety rating, and a 78 per cent safety assist rating.
Being a
Volvo, the XC40 is loaded with standard safety equipment, including low- and
high-speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with vulnerable road user
detection, lane-keeping assist, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring,
along with front, side, head and driver’s knee airbags.
You can
read more details about Volvo XC40 crash test results on the ANCAP website.
What is
the Volvo XC40 Recharge like on the inside?
You’ll
struggle to find another compact SUV that feels this solid and well built
inside. We were surprised by the quality of fit and finish, and the thought put
into materials throughout the cabin.
For
example, the door bins and centre tunnel surrounds are carpeted to cut down on
rattly plastics. The dashboard surrounds are all soft to the touch, while the
door panels and dashboard fascia feature texted aluminium inserts that feel
rough to the touch.
There’s
even a crazy bright orange carpet option – but steer clear of that if you
value your eyes!
The seats
are comfortable and have plenty of adjustability, including a
manually-retractable under-thigh cushion extension. Beneath the driver’s seat
is a sliding cubby hole that hides valuables away from prying eyes.
Leg- and
headroom in the second row is very good, despite the XC40 appearing to be a
smaller SUV on the outside. I normally have my seat a long way back and was
able to sit behind with with ample knee-, toe- and headroom, even with the
optional panoramic sunroof.
There’s a
centre armrest with two cup holders, ISOFIX points for the outboard seats, and
carpeted door bins built into each door.
Cargo
capacity comes in at 460 litres with the second row in place and expands to
1336 litres when lowered. Beneath the cargo floor you’ll find a space saver
spare tyre. The plug-in hybrid drivetrain’s battery pack doesn’t rob the boot
of cargo capacity (more on this below).
Storage
inside the door bins is huge, but the XC40 is slightly let down by limited
storage in the centre console and glove box.
Volvo’s
9.0-inch portrait infotainment system is getting a little long in the tooth,
but still remains fairly easy to use. Smartphone mirroring is built into one
smaller portion of the screen, rather than a larger portrait integration.
The only
thing we aren’t a fan of with this infotainment system is the integrated
temperature controls. They can be quite fiddly to use while driving compared to
physical buttons, and require taking your eyes off the road briefly to adjust
temperature or fan speed.
What’s
under the bonnet?
Being a
plug-in hybrid vehicle the Volvo XC40 Recharge PHEV is driven by two
drivetrains: an internal combustion engine, and an electric motor.
The
internal combustion engine is a 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol
engine producing 135kW of power and 265Nm of torque, mated to a seven-speed
dual-clutch transmission.
The
electric component of the package is an electric motor making 61kW of power and
160Nm of torque, which combines with the internal combustion engine for a total
power output of 195kW. Combined fuel economy comes in at 2.0 litres of fuel per
100km.
Torque is
exclusively sent to the front wheels, with no all-wheel drive option for the
XC40 Recharge PHEV.
Despite
packing a 10.7kWh Li-ion battery pack, cargo capacity remains unchanged because
the battery pack is packaged within the transmission tunnel. It affords an
electric-only range of 46km and a charge time of 2.5 hours on a 3.7kW home
charger, or slightly longer on a 10A 2.4kW portable charger.
How does
the Volvo XC40 Recharge drive?
Well –
very well, actually. When you start the car it defaults to the hybrid mode,
which defaults to electric power until the driver pushes past a throttle
position and activates the internal combustion engine.
Unlike some
plug-in hybrids, that threshold is quite high, so the car will accelerate with
the flow of traffic without needing to hand over to the internal combustion
engine. If you get stuck into the throttle it fires to life and delivers
additional torque, but until that point it stays off.
The
drivetrain sends torque through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Unlike
in the Hyundai Ioniq plug-in hybrid, which has noticeable gear shifts as it
motors along in electric mode with its dual-clutch transmission, you’d never
pick that the XC40 Recharge PHEV uses that type of gearbox.
There’s a
‘B’ mode that increases energy regeneration when the vehicle is slowing down by
physically activating the brake pedal, creating a strange sensation if your
foot is hovering nearby as you roll out of the throttle. While it serves its
purpose, it doesn’t decelerate to a full stop – the driver still needs to take
over at some point to stop the vehicle entirely.
Brake pedal
feel is okay, but can be a little devoid of feedback at times.
When the
brake is automatically depressed in ‘B’ mode, the pedal can feel quite firm and
require an additional nudge to pull up when the driver takes over. There’s no
issue stopping, it just requires a little more effort than it would in an
internal-combustion XC40.
In terms of
other plug-in hybrid controls, the driver is able to hold the charge level through
a button on the infotainment system. This ensures the charge level doesn’t drop
by leaning exclusively on the internal-combustion engine. There’s also a mode
that charges the battery with the internal-combustion engine.
OVERALL RATING
8.6
- SAFETY
8.7
- FUEL
EFFICIENCY
8.9
- PERFORMANCE
8.5
- RIDE
COMFORT
7.7
- HANDLING
DYNAMICS
7.9
- TECHNOLOGY
INFOTAINMENT
9.3
- VALUE
FOR MONEY
8
- INTERIOR
PRACTICALITY AND SPACE
9.4
- COST
OF OWNERSHIP
8.5
- FIT
FOR PURPOSE
9
PERFORMANCE
IT'S NO
SLUG
Despite
sending all of its torque through the front axle, the XC40 Recharge PHEV takes
care of the 0-100km/h dash in just 6.9 seconds
The
transition between electric and hybrid mode is fairly seamless. The
three-cylinder engine under the bonnet has a fun rasp and it can be heard if
you bury the throttle, but outside of that it remains quiet and doesn’t intrude
into the cabin as it moves between modes.
In terms of
economy, we lined up a 100km trip that included the first portion on a
fully-charged battery and the remainder of the trip on hybrid mode, and found
the resulting fuel economy of 4.4L/100km to be pretty reasonable.
The first
portion of the trip was on a highway before pulling onto a hilly country road.
It’s around where you’d expect the economy of a 1700kg vehicle to sit, but
quite a way from the claimed 2.0L/100km combined economy.
Sitting on
20-inch alloy wheels with 45 profile tyres, we were expecting the ride to be
choppy. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as we expected. It’s certainly on the
firmer side of comfortable, but it’s softly damped, which means it copes well
with longer and continuous undulations – and not so well with sharp and brittle
sections of road.
Buyers can
opt for adaptive damping for an additional $850. It’s worth doing if ride
quality is important. There’s also an option to opt for a 19-inch alloy wheel
instead of the 20-inch units pictured here for no additional cost.
On the open
road, the ride is quiet and the combined drivetrain surprisingly sharp. We
clocked a 6.9 second 0-100km/h time, but did notice the front wheels can
scrabble for traction if you get stuck in from a standing start.
Outside of
that there’s enough torque for overtaking and the dual-clutch gearbox remains
smooth and imperceptible as you motor along.
Visibility
out the front, sides and rear is excellent thanks to its big wing mirrors,
blind-spot monitoring, and lane-keeping assist. We weren’t as sold on the
optional Pilot Assist package, which tracks the road ahead to guide the vehicle
around corners. It worked okay most of the time, but was easily caught out by
some bends and sharper radius turns, even at highway speeds.
The XC40
isn’t a sports car, but it’s dynamic enough to be fun if you find yourself at
the base of a mountain road. It rides on 245mm wide tyres all round that offer
plenty of traction and a chassis that sits fairly flat through corners.
There’s
also ample steering feel to put a smile on your face.
How much
does the Volvo XC40 cost to run?
Volvo has
finally reconsidered servicing costs and slashed the price of having a new car
serviced.
Servicing
takes place every 15,000km or 12 months, and Volvo offers a prepaid service
plan priced at $1595 over a three-year period. That averages out to around $531
per service.
Volvo has
also increased its local warranty from three- to five years.
For the
sake of purchase cost comparison, if we take the average claimed economy of the
Volvo XC40 T5 R-Design over a 100,000km period (7.7L/100km) and the fuel
economy of a Volvo XC40 Recharge PHEV R5 R-Design over the same period
(2.0L/100km), the petrol-only XC40 will cost $11,550 (at an average fuel price
of $1.50 per litre), while the PHEV will set you back $3000.
That’s the
cost of fuel alone. If you charge the vehicle once every tank of fuel the
equation changes slightly, adding $535 to the running costs over 100,000km of
travel – that’s a 46km charge per 500km of travel.
So
ultimately it will take a little over 100,000km to pay back the additional
investment for the XC40 Recharge PHEV, but it’s worth keeping in mind if you
travel shorter distances and have the ability to charge regularly, that period
could be significantly cut down.
CarExpert’s
take on the Volvo XC40 Recharge
I came away
surprised with the Volvo XC40 Recharge Plug-In Hybrid T5 R-Design. It’s a long
name but it delivers an impressive drive, decent fuel economy, and a fuss-free
plug-in hybrid package that doesn’t take a degree to understand.
It’s let
down slightly by the ride. It’s a little too firm on its 20-inch alloy wheels,
but that’s fixed easily enough by optioning for the 19-inch alloy wheels
instead, and considering the optional adaptive damping package.
Outside of
that, the XC40 is a seriously good package. The interior is nicely presented
and feels as solid as a rock, while a real focus has been placed on making the
interior premium. There’s stacks of room inside for a small SUV, and no space
compromise to accommodate the plug-in hybrid drivertrain.
Should you
spend an additional $8000 on the plug-in hybrid over the T5 R-Design? It
depends entirely on your application. If you travel less than 40km a day
to and from work (and most people do) and have the ability to charge the car,
it makes perfect sense because you can have an XC40 without ever really needing
to pay for fuel.
We are all
keen to see what the full electric version of the XC40 will look and feel like
when it arrives in Australia during 2021.
Source:
CarExpert.com
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