Volvo XC40 Recharge Plug-in Hybrid T5 FWD Inscription Pro
The car you see before you here is the lovely new Volvo XC40 ‘Recharge’ – a car that I have simply fallen in love with, writes Tony Yates.
I tested a basic XC40 a while back and it was a lovely machine. But finally, after months of waiting, the new Plug-in Hybrid XC40 is now finally here sitting on my drive – looking even better than I ever imagined.
Power and Efficiency:
The XC40 Recharge is fitted with a 180hp three-cylinder 1,477cc petrol engine with 265Nm of torque. 0-62 is dealt with in around 7.3sec and it will max out at 112mph.
For starters – I like this engine a lot because it’s very refined and gets you around brilliantly with minimal effort needed on the loud pedal. The big plus point here though is its torque levels which makes overtaking effortless once that electric motor jumps in.
As I just said, the XC40 Recharge is a plug-in hybrid, so you get the addition of an electric motor working alongside the petrol engine to boost you an additional 82hp – which will move you along quite nicely actually.
So that’s a together figure of; 258bhp and 425Nm of torque. (petrol engine + electric motor)
Plus if you do fancy driving on pure electric power alone as I did, you will cover around 22miles on one charge if you drive steady.
On the road:
I expected nothing but the best – and I was right. For me, the XC40 ticks all the right boxes. And, it’s on-road abilities are brilliant on pretty much any surface, so it’s a big well done! Volvo from me.
Volvo has also done a fantastic job of getting the chassis system to work efficiently on all surfaces – while still allowing it to feel like a normal road car, which when you consider the size of the XC40, that’s a pretty hard trick to pull off truth be told.
Design & Technology:
Volvo’s interiors are very similar across all their models now – and all are very ‘plush’. Also, everything fits and works well with the driver and nothing is ever fussy or cumbersome, even the touchscreen display is simple to use and not complex.
The seating is also very well designed and even after a day driving to Hereford & back, I still felt as fresh as a daisy, and unflustered thanks to how a Volvo makes you feel.
Some of the standard equipment in the XC40 Recharge Inscription Pro includes; Nine-inch centre console touchscreen with voice-activated control, Volvo On Call with app – available for your smartphone, smartwatch or tablet, this enables you to control various car functions remotely, and also acts as an emergency and tracking service, Sensus Navigation – full European mapping with traffic information and lifetime map updates, Sensus Connect – allows you to access a range of web apps, Data SIM card – provides up to 100GB of data for 12 months, City Safety – includes pedestrian, cyclist and large animal detection, and front collision warning with fully automatic emergency braking, including at junctions.
Oncoming Lane Mitigation – automatically provides steering assistance if you unwittingly drift out of your lane, guiding you back into your lane and out of the path of any oncoming vehicles, Run-off Road Protection – automatically tightens the front seatbelts should the car inadvertently leave the road, while the front seat frames with a collapsible section reduce vertical forces to help prevent spinal injuries, LED headlights with active high beam, Climate control with CleanZone air-quality system, Rear parking sensors, Hill-start assist, Cruise control with speed limiter and a 12.3-inch active TFT crystal driver’s information display.
To sum up:
Driving the new XC40 Recharge is amazing – is like having a brand new friend who’s prepared to do just about anything to make you happy.
Seriously though, it’s a great machine that will also do it’s utmost to please you every time you push the start button.
So there you have it, the XC40 ‘Recharge’ is the perfect plug-in Hybrid. All that is left to say is I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas.
Price: (from) £42,430
