Volvo C40 Recharge 2023 Review

Intro, Price, Options and Verdict

Introduction

It’s all the rage for automakers to take perfectly good SUVs and turn them into fastbacks. There’s the Coupe version of the Enyaq iV, the Volkswagen ID.5 derived from the ID.4, and the Sportback version of the Q4, amongst many others. What they gain in aerodynamics and sporty appeal, they lose in boot practicality – and sometimes in looks, too.

The Volvo C40 Recharge isn’t quite so bad in any of these areas. The XC40 it is derived from may be a typically boxy Volvo design, but it’s not unattractive, and the more sloping rear of the C40 adds a racier look, as intended. Unlike the XC40, there is no non-electric version of the C40, either. Although it is still based on the Compact Modular Architecture that was intended to support ICE as well as EV, this is a purely electric Volvo.

Price and Options

The C40 is offered with three trim levels and two motor configurations. The Core trim is only available with the Front Wheel Drive Recharge version, but Plus and Ultimate can be specified with this or the Recharge Twin all-wheel-drive motor configuration. The Recharge has a decent 231hp motor with a 69kWh battery, but the Recharge Twin has powerful 408hp with a 78kWh battery, the same as the dual motor Polestar 2.

All cars get automatic LED headlights, cruise control, powered tailgate, rear parking sensors, folding heated mirrors, and even a panoramic sunroof as standard. There's a fair bit of safety tech included as standard too. The Plus trim adds Adaptive Cruise control with Pilot Assist, front parking sensors and a rear camera, handsfree tailgate opening, a heat pump, heated electric seats, and extra safety features.

Ultimate adds LED headlights that bend round corners and have a technology called Adaptive Shadow, which is like VW's Matrix LEDs – it just dims the parts of the beam that might blind an oncoming driver. This trim also includes a 360-degree view to the parking camera, and a premium sound system.

Wheels start at 19in for Core and Plus, but the Ultimate gets 20in rims. You can add these to the Plus for £750, but not the Core. Standard colours include black, red, grey, or silver, so you get more options than with some cars. Plus and Ultimate trims can also be specified in white and green, and these trims have metallic paint as standard. Otherwise, metallic paints are £585 and premium metallic ones £850. Our press car was actually the Pro trim level, which has been discontinued, but was previously the top option, with features similar to the Ultimate trim.

When Volvo launched the XC40 it was pushing its subscription model above outright purchase, but now both are given equal weighting. The base Core car costs £48,355, or £699 a month on subscription. The single-motor Plus is then £55,415 and the Ultimate £57,555. Go for dual motors, and you pay £60,665 for the Plus, or £62,805 for the Ultimate. The top car will cost you £859 a month to subscribe to.

In other words, this is not a cheap vehicle. The dual-motor cars are more expensive than a Tesla Model Y Long Range (particularly since the price reduction). The C40 Recharge Twin is quicker in a straight line, but offers considerably less range, less interior space, and a lot less cargo carrying capacity. The VW Group dual-motor electric SUVs also offer more space and range but are quite a bit slower than the Recharge Twin.

Design, Comfort and Storage

Exterior Design

The front of the C40 looks the same as the XC40. It still has the nose of the petrol and diesel XC40s, but with a solid cover instead of an air intake grille. It's only when you get to the top of the windscreen that the differences to the XC40 start to be revealed, with a sloped rear roofline tapering backwards. The C40 doesn't have the roof rails of the XC40 and has extra dynamic features at the rear.

The difference is mostly aesthetic. However, you pay over £1,300 more for the “sportback coupe” look of the C40 compared to the XC40. Overall, we think the difference in appearance is an improvement, which isn’t always the case with coupe-ified SUVs. As we will also explain in later sections of this review, you don’t lose too much utility either over the XC40, other than rear cargo space. With the two-tone white and black of our review sample, this is a striking car, even if it is still a little “Volvo boxy” at the front.

Interior Comfort

The C40 offers keyless entry, so you can just pull the door handle to enter with the keys in your pocket. Once you're inside the front of the C40, you won't notice any difference to the XC40. It's a similarly traditional cabin experience, except that the portrait-orientation media display is larger than earlier Volvos (other than the XC40).

The Core trim gets textile upholstery, as does the Plus. But the Plus also adds front and rear heated seats, as well as electric adjustment for both driver and passenger. It also gets memory slots for driver's seat and mirrors. The Ultimate trim, like our Pro car, adds a more premium textile and Microtech upholstery, as well as power folding rear headrests, which trigger when you drop the rear seats forward to extend the boot. The Microtech fabric can be added to the Core and Plus for £925. There's also a wool option that is £1,750 for the Core and Plus, or £825 for the Ultimate. The leather seating options of the original XC40 are no longer available, presumably because Volvo like Polestar is playing the sustainability card as strong as it can.

There is a wireless phone charger included on all cars, something we think should be standard on every premium vehicle. The cupholders can accommodate differently sized vessels, but fizzy drink bottles are a little too narrow and flop around in the large orifices. There are a couple of USB ports, and a cubby under the armrest.

The fixed panoramic sunroof is one of the things you get with the C40 you don't get with the XC40, which on its own could be worth the extra money (this is an Ultimate-only option on the XC40). You might also expect the rear of the C40 to be more cramped than the XC40, as you usually find with coupe and sportback versions of SUVs. But there's not much in it, so adults will be fine in the back of this car. The middle seat is a bit too narrow for an adult on a long journey, but you can pull the back down to reveal an armrest with two cupholders if there are only two rear passengers.

Rear seat passengers also benefit from their own air conditioning vents, and underneath a cover can be found a couple of USB-C ports for charging devices. There are also controls for the rear passengers to operate their heated seats. The base C40 doesn't have these, just the Plus and Ultimate. The rear seats have ISOfix points, and so does the front passenger seat.

Storage and Load Carrying

The boot supposedly has a kick release on the Plus and Ultimate trims, but we found it a bit temperamental. There’s always a knack with these mechanisms and we didn’t seem to have the Volvo knack. However, once you get the boot there is still a decent amount of space. You would think that the sloping back would have a major impact on luggage capacity, but you actually only lose 39 litres below the cover with the seats up and 89 litres to the roof. The base capacity is 413 litres (489 litres to roof), and there's a space underneath, which is reasonable for a small SUV / crossover.

The boot shelf is a bit rudimentary for a car this price, but functional. Drop the seats forward in a 60/40 arrangement and you get 1,205 litres, which is 123 litres less than the XC40. This capacity reduces the boot from estate car to large hatchback, which is essentially what the C40 is. Still, the floor is flat and there is no lip, so loading will be easy.

There's a small 30-litre frunk as well, enough for an overnight or sports bag, or the charging cables. You can even add a retractable towbar for £1,250. Braked towing capacity is 1,500kg for the Recharge and 1,800kg for the Recharge Twin, or 750kg unbraked in both cases.

In-Car Entertainment and Controls

As we have already mentioned, this is a mostly conventional car interior. The steering wheel has cruise controls on the left and media controls on the right. There are traditional stalks for lights and indicators on the left, with windscreen wipers on the right. Turning this car on just involves getting inside, sitting down, and pressing the brake pedal, as you do in a Tesla or VW Group EV.

You select drive, reverse and neutral with a quasi-gearstick in the centre, plus a button to choose park. There are no controls for motor power or regeneration level, however, although you can head into the menu to enable single-pedal driving mode. You get a few central buttons for some media and the dual-zone air conditioning controls, but most functions are controlled via the 9in media screen.

Like the Polestar 2, the C40’s infotainment system is powered by Android Auto. However, there is a physical central menu button, whereas Polestar just leaves this as a line onscreen which isn't so obviously a button.

You press a quartet of squares to get to a menu with more functions, including the Play Store where you can download extra apps. The C40 also has Google Voice control, which works reasonably for some things, particularly navigation, but we wouldn't use it all the time. Press the cog and you get to the settings, which are extensive – such as toggling one-pedal driving and lane keeping. You can also easily set charging limits. There are sound controls, connectivity options, and the ability to customise the home screen.

Particularly handy will be the option to create different driver profiles, which you can then connect to each key fob. This means multiple drivers can use the car without having to fiddle with the settings each time they swap over. We also like the fact that the Recharge Twin AWD comes with four years of mobile data connectivity as standard across the range.

Performance, Running Costs, Range, and Safety

Performance and Driving

The C40 has the same drivetrain as the Polestar 2 and XC40. The Recharge Twin car has 204hp motors front and back for 408hp total and 660Nm of torque, which is almost excessive for a small SUV. The C40 is also slightly quicker than the XC40, taking just 4.5 seconds to hit 60mph compared to 4.7 seconds, which is going to give a Jaguar I-Pace or Tesla Model Y Long Range a run for their money. The single-motor car only has 231hp and takes a more pedestrian 7 seconds to hit 60mph. This is still quite fast by general car standards but not for an EV.

The ride quality is comfortable, although we find the high stance a little less involving than non-crossover EVs. Nevertheless, handling is firm and deliberate. You can choose a couple of settings for the steering, but whichever you choose it's not quite a sports crossover. Nevertheless, in Recharge Twin form the C40 is blisteringly quick in a straight line, which is great fun. A Tesla Performance car is faster, but how fast do you need your fastback SUV to go anyway? The C40 also feels very composed at 70mph on a motorway, too. Choosing the single-pedal mode makes city driving very relaxed as well.

Range and Charging

If the XC40 had an Achilles heel, it was how far it could go on a single charge. We are starting to expect premium EVs to offer at least 300 miles of WLTP range. The C40 is a bit more aerodynamic than the XC40, so the range is a little better, starting at 267 miles for the single-motor Recharge Ultimate, up to 274 miles for the dual-motor Recharge Twin Plus. But that's still behind what we'd hope for in a car this price.

Our testing would imply that outside of hot or cold conditions, driving a blend of motorway, A-road and dual carriageways will give you somewhere between 200 and 220 miles, which is enough for a long journey. But the range will date this car as newer models capable of greater distances arrive in the next few years.

There is at least 150kW DC charging, which takes just 32 minutes to replenish the battery from 10 to 80% for the 69kWh Recharge and 37 minutes for the 78kWh Recharge Twin. AC charging takes 11 hours from zero to 100% for the Recharge, and 12 hours for the Recharge Twin. Only 7kW AC charging is available.

Running Costs

The C40’s battery will deliver up to 3.4 miles per kWh with the Recharge, and up to 3 miles per kWh for the Recharge Twin. Those are not the most economical values we've seen, although they are better than the XC40.

The standard warranty is typical for a European car, with three years or 60,000 miles. This is quite a bit less than Hyundai or Kia will offer, or MG for that matter. The battery also has the typical 100,000-mile, eight-year warranty, although Volvo doesn't state a minimum capacity. Insurance groups range from 34 for the Core to 42 for the dual motor Plus and Ultimate trims.

Safety

You get a generous amount of safety tech as standard with the C40, as you would expect from a Volvo. This includes what the company calls City Safety, which combines pedestrian and cyclist detection with Front Collision Detection plus front and rear auto braking. You also get lane keeping assistance, and road sign information display. With the Core trim you just get rear parking sensors, however, no camera.

The Plus trim adds blind spot detection, steering assist, and cross traffic warning. It also adds a rear parking camera as well as front sensors. The Core trim just gets regular cruise control, but Plus and Ultimate have adaptive cruise control with Volvo's Pilot Assist, which has autosteering abilities. This is one of the better examples of the genre in our experience. However, you absolutely must keep your hands in the right place on the wheel or the system will complain and then turn itself off in a huff. The Ultimate trim doesn't add any safety tech other than a 360-degree view with the parking camera.

Key Specifications