Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin

I love Volvo, I love electric cars. From there, I should be in heaven after my test of the 100% electric XC40 ... I come away frustrated. Explanations.

“Oh dear, Jean-Baptiste, but we have already seen the XC40 a thousand times on the site”. This is not wrong, since you can already find here a test of the T5 petrol version, here diesel D4, here in rechargeable hybrid version and here to version ... 100% electric. Why a fifth test of the car and, above all, why a second test of the same engine? Because this first production electric Volvo (let's ignore the ephemeral C30 electric of 2013) makes me very curious, but also because I had a small idea behind my head: to redo the Paris-Noirmoutier-Paris carried out on board the hybrid version last year and compare the two trips. Let's go.

We will therefore start by presenting the car… Or rather be satisfied with the outline, Thomas having taken care of it wonderfully during his first meeting. We therefore have before us a Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin with two electric motors developing 408 hp & 660 Nm powered by a 78 kWh battery (including 75 useful). Autonomy announced: 418 km WLTP. If the exterior dimensions do not change (4420 x 1863 x 1652), the boot loses a few liters in the operation: where the 100% thermal versions offer 460 liters, this 100% electric “Recharge Twin” must be content with 413 liters. … To which are added another 31 liters, hidden under the front hood.

Now that I have put all the figures at once, we will be able to concentrate on the essentials: what do I think of this electric XC40? Above all: I love the outdoors. I've always found the Volvo SUV to be quite elegant, but the obstruction of the grille makes it, in all subjectivity, quite superb modernity. And then this color !! A Metallic Sage Green at € 1,350 base (€ 350 with the “Pro” finish) also extremely modern. So modern, moreover, that the restyled C3 Aircross which arrived later on the market offers a “Kaki Gray” with a rather astonishing similarity. But let's not digress: it is said, the electric version of the XC40 makes me crack.

Inside, we will go even faster: nothing changes, or very little. The five seats are there, the trunk is decent (not to mention the small space under the hood perfect for stowing the cables), the atmosphere is dark but the panoramic roof does, as usual, the job to bring it in. light - a pity, however, that it is only reserved for the high-end “Pro” version. The materials of honest quality answer present, the ugly carpet of the very vast storm-doors too. All the equipment one could dream of are available, but two should be noted that I will come back to: the harman / kardon sound system and the multimedia part entrusted to Google.

Because yes, the sound system h / k me, in a quite astonishing way, gratified by humming bass and treble a little too strident. It does not look at all like the rest of Volvo's hi-fi installations, including the one I had with the hybrid version (although the same system from the same brand); perhaps an inconvenience only limited to my test model? I want to believe it. Regarding the multimedia part entrusted to Google, I was eager to see what the American hypermarket could offer us in the automotive interface… and in the end I was not particularly surprised. The central screen takes the “normal” layout of the other versions, even if the meter screen goes through cosmetic surgery to come out damn more modern than before. Oh yes: the native integration of Google Maps, combined with your personal Google account, allows you to find places and routes very easily and the Google Assistant (the famous “OK Google”) is still damn effective - you just have to get used to the idea that the American giant will know more stuff about you. I would also be curious to know what driving data Mr. Google monopolizes ... Come on, two small remarks: I would have liked to have the instantaneous charging power instead of the kilometers gained per hour, and an update. GPS day would be welcome. I find it unfortunate that the route planner messes around by not offering proposals for charging stops around you and not on the route as a whole - especially when its great rival, the Tesla Model Y, offers it. allows you to find places and routes very easily and the Google Assistant (the famous “OK Google”) is still damn effective - you just have to get used to the idea that the American giant will know even more things about you. I would also be curious to know what driving data Mr. Google monopolizes ... Come on, two small remarks: I would have liked to have the instantaneous charging power instead of the kilometers gained per hour, and an update. GPS day would be welcome. I find it unfortunate that the route planner messes around by not offering proposals for charging stops around you and not on the route as a whole - especially when its great rival, the Tesla Model Y, offers it. allows you to find places and routes very easily and the Google Assistant (the famous “OK Google”) is still damn effective - you just have to get used to the idea that the American giant will know even more things about you. I would also be curious to know what driving data Mr. Google monopolizes ... Come on, two small remarks: I would have liked to have the instantaneous charging power instead of the kilometers gained per hour, and an update. GPS day would be welcome. I find it unfortunate that the route planner is messing around by not offering proposals for charging stops around you and not on the route as a whole - especially when its great rival, the Tesla Model Y, offers it.

And in motion, then? I must admit that the interest of putting two engines and 408 hp in a family SUV does not particularly jump out at me, but it has the advantage of being severe in accelerations and times: 4.9 s from 0 to 100 km / h , it starts to speak - especially as the tires grip the pavement with splendor. However, these two engines and this power induce another component: the XC40 Recharge Twin is not a champion of consumption. Oh, nothing dramatic, but I'm sure that drastically reducing the power would allow us to go well below the 18 kWh / 100 km recorded in peri-urban use. As for the motorway, the Volvo has stabilized at 25 kWh / 100 km, a score again in the average. To drive, on the other hand, it is an absolute pleasure: the comfort is wonderful, the “One Pedal” system is perfectly well calibrated (if you are not a fan, deactivate it and the XC40 will coast every time the pedal is lifted), quite natural driving aids. You will understand: even if (spoiler alert) the 1,200 km spent at the wheel were not always easy, driving the electric XC40 on a daily basis is a real pleasure.

It is also astonishing to notice to what extent Volvo was able to “take inspiration” from Tesla in the driving experience: no start button (just press the brake pedal and select a gear) or driving modes or regeneration levels: with the XC40 Recharge Twin, the key word is clearly fluidity. It just lacks an unlock / start by phone and we will be good!

Price side? Count € 56,150 for a “basic” XC40 Recharge Twin (already very well equipped: 19 ″ rims, heat pump, adaptive regulator, reversing camera, heated seats & steering wheel) or € 59,990 for the top of the range “Pro ”, Adding the panoramic roof, 360 ° cameras, electric seats and so on. If you follow the news of green cars a little, you will have noticed that this XC40 Pro escapes € 10 near the end of the penalty, thus allowing you to reduce the overall price by € 2,000 ... if and only if you do not draw no options ????

A quick tour of the competition? The Mercedes-Benz EQA 350, “single” traction 292 hp with a battery slightly smaller than the XC40 (66.5 kWh // 426 km WLTP) starts at € 59,200 and the Audi Q4 e-tron 50 quattro from 300 hp is exchanged for € 65,700 (77 kWh // 412 km WLTP). And be careful not to forget the Tesla Model Y Long Range: 440 hp and 507 km of range for € 59,990, it could hurt a lot. If this XC40 Recharge does well between these powerful models, I remain convinced that turning one of the two engines would greatly reduce the price while maintaining more than correct power. The message has passed!

I said it at the beginning of the article: I like Volvos, I like electric cars. On a daily basis, this XC40 Recharge is a cozy little cocoon in which to live. But here I am really annoyed when it comes to recommending it to you - attention, the passage which will follow concerns all the electric cars of the size of the XC40 and beyond; I therefore include the Mercedes-Benz EQA, the Audi Q4 , the Volkswagen ID.4 and all the others. The reason is all stupid, so stupid that it pisses me off: we lack limits. My trip to Noirmoutier could have ended very badly when, arrived there, I realized that the charging station that interested me was out of order and that the alternatives were galleys, far too galleys for a guy who slams more than 50 000 € in a family SUV. If the motorway network begins to be sufficiently meshed with reliable and powerful terminals, the secondary network is clearly lagging behind: more stations and, above all , are needed, more stations per station. To offer only one terminal per station, as is the case in the overwhelming majority of cities, is for me absolute nonsense: at the slightest quack, at the slightest incivility, it quickly becomes horrible. Let's put three, four, five, grow this fucking network !!

“It's not my fault”, exclaims, rightly, my electric XC40. This finding is all the more annoying as I concluded 12 months ago on the same subject when testing the Audi e-tron Sportback , where my slightly blissful optimism assured you that, I promise, the ability to do great distances in electric without ulterior motive would tumble down at full gallop. We are in 2021, EVs are landing en masse in manufacturers' ranges, sales are taking off; in short, the time of early adoptersand their resourcefulness is far behind us, and the moment comes when quite lambda families find themselves behind the wheel of these cars. And these very lambda families have neither the habit, nor the inclination, nor the time to go through the applications of counting stations, to plan journeys, to find alternatives “just in case”, in short, to go through the hassle that we still find, to my great despair, even today in the field of electromobility. See you in 12 months?