Volvo C40 Recharge Pure Electric

Volvo's electric only model does (almost) everything right! – This is Volvo’s first fully electric model. It’s very closely related to the existing XC40 Recharge. But instead of a traditional boxy SUV shape, Volvo have opted to perform a Brazilian Butt lift on the C40 and give it a shapely rear end. You can have it in a RWD or AWD configuration. I tested the range topping and fastest AWD C40 Recharge to see if the Swedish brand created a convincing Tesla Model Y alternative.

I was extremely impressed with the construction of the C40. In true Volvo fashion, you have tightly buttoned up interior trim pieces and hefty feeling exterior panels. There were minimal creaks and squeaks during my long range test, and the sound isolation from the outside world makes it a sanctuary away from traffic during the daily commute.

If you’re looking for a step up from your Tesla, the C40 will offer that extra attention to detail you might have missed.

You’ll need to pay $75,990 for the single motor and $83,490 for the dual motor respectively. That means you’ll get 434km of claimed range for the single motor and 420 km of range for the dual motor. This was the pre-updated C40 which has less range than the recently updated C40.

However, I can’t help but feel it’s beat out by the Tesla Model Y for overall value. When it comes to range, performance and total storage space, the Model Y comes out on top here.

Volvo offers a traditional 5 year/unlimited kilometre warranty with a 8 year battery warranty and 2 year service intervals or every 30,000km. 3 years of services are free with the purchase. $1000 extra will get you 5 years of servicing. I am a big fan of the big service intervals as you’ll only need to really replace consumables like brake pads and air filters.

The Harman Kardon speaker system fitted to our car is a must if you love music. The customisation settings here really do offer a deep range to enjoy your favourite beats or feel more immersed in a podcast. Although I can’t help but feel it doesn’t match the performance of the Bowers and Wilkins system you can opt for on other Volvo cars.

One pedal braking is available on this EV, and it works extremely well. I hardly had to engage the brake pedal for most of my driving.

Something most people don’t get is that Volvo makes sleeper family cars! A sleeper is a car you don’t expect to be a high performance vehicle, but it is. Unsuspecting wannabe drag racers at a set of lights will be blown away by the fact this family car can hit 100km/h in just 4.7 seconds! Producing 300kW and 660Nm from two electric motors, this AWD model is the one to have if you want all the power.

When it comes to gears, the Volvo runs a single gear through to its limited top speed of 180km/h.

Riding on large 20 inch wheels look cool, but often result in a worsened ride. That is somewhat true with the C40.

Daily driving is calm and smooth, but out on some country roads is where some weak spots were shown. I would have loved an option for some smaller wheels just to add a little more cushion on coarse sections of road with the occasional pot hole.

Unfortunately the battery consumption is a weak point for the C40 Recharge. Claimed range is 420km from the 78kWh battery pack.

At 100% charge I saw a max range figure of just 350km. Max charge rate for this pre-updated C40 is 150kW meaning it’ll take 40 mins to charge from 10-80%.

Charge times for the updated C40 will be a lot less thanks to an increase in charge capability, going from 150kW to 200kW.

Battery consumption peaked above 20kWh/100km, so it’s not as efficient as something like a Hyundai IONIQ 5 or Tesla Model Y.

If you’re looking for a space-age interior, it’s not inside the C40. Instead it’s a masterclass in minimalist traditional car interiors.

There’s a 9-inch vertical touchscreen running Google’s Android Automotive infotainment software. Don’t worry, it will still support Apple CarPlay. In addition to that Google Maps offers up-to-date information about your nearest fast chargers, which is a major plus over cars that don’t offer this as a native option.

This dual-motor model gets a microtech and textile interior which feels just as premium as intended. In addition the ergonomic seats offer plenty of support, and I especially adore the thigh support extenders.

Yes you’re sacrificing a little vertical space in the boot, but it’s still fairly spacious. There’s 489L available with all the seats up, and plenty more storage under the boot floor. You even get a folding floor with more bag hooks to help divide the boot space and hold grocery bags in place.

Shame there’s no spare tire, but it’s a common omission from many new electric cars.

Outside of Tesla, this Volvo gets one of the best ‘frunk’ spaces. It’s neatly trimmed and weather-proof and has carpeting in there too. Making this ‘frunk’ space an ideal place for things like your charging cables.

Taller adults will fit comfortably in the rear, but they would rather be in the XC40 Recharge for the best rear headroom.

If you’re not convinced about buying a Tesla Model Y, you have a few options below $100,000 for a premium electric SUV.

The Volvo C40 stands out as a good looking, fast charging, well specced and comfortable SUV. And efficiency is even better in the updated version of this Swedish EV.

*Disclaimer - I work for ProductReview as their independent car and motorbike expert. I borrow new cars and motorbikes from manufacturers and owners to review. I am not paid or incentivised by these brands to post reviews. I write and create content to provide insight and information about any new or used vehicle I can get my hands on.

Best Electric Car Experience – Not new to electric cars, drove a Tesla Model 3 for over a year... and loved it, but always thought it felt like a small car, sure is fast, sure have all the tech, but I was never able to shake off the feeling of being in a city car, specially if you are used to an SUV experience, while I don't have problems with a sedan like car, this felt even smaller than that, so needed to change

Before moving to electric, out of driving different mid tier to entry high end cars (in short from Mazda's to Audi's), I was stuck with Volvo, got myself a XC60 on 2019 and was the best experience on that tier of cars, so when I decided to change the Tesla for something a bit more like SUV had to check with Volvo, initially when i checked they only had the XC40 electric and went for it, but while waiting they mentioned I could swap to the C40 which i did after looking at the much nicer design, oh boy I'm so happy with it

Feels like in another real in terms of quality of details and car built, have all the tech and safety you expect from a Volvo and runs like a speed devil (Twin Recharge version) in terms of range i feel is better (and more accurate) than Tesla, the design is quite appealing on its own right. To be fair in the tech department Tesla do still have the advantage, the self driving features and digital features on that big screen you don't find them in Volvo, here you get a more "Classic" car experience, will that be good or bad is up you anybody personal preferences.

Overall an upgrade from the Tesla in most regards and an amazing car, also people at the dealer are great (Volvo Brisbane North).