Volvo C40 review: a little late to the electric table, but a decent first stab
Volvo C40
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Volvo C40 |
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★★★★☆ |
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from €53,730 (including SEAI grant), €68,950 as tested |
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two electric motors, one on each axle, with 408bhp output |
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stated range is around the 440km mark |
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the tester had a lot of added gear, but the basic spec. is comprehensive |
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a little late to the electric table, but a decent first stab from Volvo |
As petrol and diesel prices breach the €2 per litre barrier and people are getting concerned about the cost of keeping their car on the road, the benefits of electric motoring are coming into sharper focus for a lot of folks – and it’s no longer a case of simply being hip or green, it’s more along the lines of needs must.
Now we all know that electric motoring is not exactly cheap. For a start, there is the cost of the electricity, which has not been immune to the inflationary prices hitting us right now across the board. Then there is the cost of the things; electric cars are not cheap by comparison with ICE-powered cars and there’s little indication that they will be getting any cheaper.
We also now know that electric cars are not a panacea for unreliability. Indeed, as time is going on people are finding more and more things going wrong with their electric cars and, in some cases, this has meant seeing your investment reduced to ashes because of fire and, in others, technical issues are popping up on an all too regular basis.
Of course, Volvo must accept some guilt for a lot of this. The Sino-Swedish concern proclaimed the ‘death of diesel’ some time back and chalked up a major PR coup for itself in doing so, but has actually done little as yet to kill diesel off. And, as a ‘premium’ brand it is hot-wired to refuse to demean its products by making cheaper ones.
Sure Volvo has produced a raft of PHEVs, but as yet its electrical ambitions have come up well short of fruition, despite a claim, it will be all-electric by 2030.
They have unveiled their Polestar all-electric sports brand, but thus far we have seen little by way of on-road products from that quarter. So, this week’s tester, the Volvo C40 Recharge is actually the first full-electric to come out of Torslanda.
It is a very interesting car and one which might create a good bit of footfall in dealerships, but it is also something of a disappointment because, although it is Volvo’s first electric, it is not quite the spectacular beast many of us were expecting. Certainly, it has the performance chops, but an interior which does not live up to Volvo’s best and the range is not mind-boggling either.
Given the current SUV surge in popularity, it is no surprise that so many variants of the theme have emerged and the C40 is no different in that it is more or less a coupe version of the XC40 and as such comes with a sloping roofline to give it a more sporty look, but we’ll discuss more about that later.
Operationally the slopy roof makes for poor rear viewing because the window aperture is so small. That means you’re almost totally reliant on the rear camera and the big door mirrors for reversing and parking which can be a little tricky until you get used to it.
With regard to the interior décor, however, it did not seem to me to be as far up the premium grade food chain as we have come to expect from Volvo of late. The company has eschewed the use to leather for obvious reasons and while everything did seem quite upmarket, it did not appear to be as upmarket as has been the case with product of the company in recent memory.
So too the infotainment system, which has been among the best in the business; but this time – and despite the inclusion of such as Apple Car Play – did not seem as user-friendly as it has been.
In terms of practicality, the seating is excellent and there is a large boot and – as there is no engine – there is also storage space in the ‘frunk’ which is that space where the engine used to be housed. This is actually handy for storing the various cables necessary for charging.
And, as there’s no engine, the motivational force here consists of two electric motors, one on each axle, and the total power output is an impressive 408 bhp output. This, allied to the fact all four wheels are driven, means not only is this a very speedy bus, but it is very good on all sorts of roads too.
With a 4.7 second 0-100 km/h time and a top speed of 180 km/h, the C40 is fleet, very fleet. This might not sit well with a company which recently announced that its product's top speeds would be limited to mitigate the risk to occupants in the event of an accident, but it sat well in this quarter.
It is a given with electrics that the more you demand of them the less they give in terms of range and the C40 was no different in that regard. The stated range is around the 440 km mark and steady driving will give you something pretty close to that figure. Getting aggressive with the loud pedal does sap energy very quickly though.
That said, the C40 is very brisk and the handling and ride are well sorted. I did get the impression though that the large 20” wheels on the tester might have contributed to a somewhat notchy ride on lesser surfaces, on billiard table roads, it is exceptional.
It is also an excellent one-pedal driver and you can prime the system to be as active or inactive as you like. I liked it best when the bias was more towards slowing the car down when you’re not on the accelerator. It takes a little getting used to, but it makes for a good driving experience.
All told then, the C40 might be a little late to the electric table – and especially so from a company which has made such a virtue of being virtuous – but if this is a statement of intent, then what’s yet to come from Volvo should be very good indeed. This car is obviously not the last word from the company, but it is a decent statement of intent.
Oh, and just one final thing. Why is it that car manufacturers have deserted the traditional front grille? This is a feature of the car which has, for generations, been the subject of much design philosophising and an area which has created huge discussion and controversy as well as debate about the nature of beauty and style.
Nowadays, however, car makers are simply dismissing the grille completely and forcing upon us a series of bland, undistinguished and, frankly, ugly replacements. Mercedes and Volvo have been particularly guilty of this egregious crime and their cars suffer greatly as a result in the beauty stakes.
Sure the grilles on electric cars don’t have to have a cooling function anymore because there’s nothing to cool, but that does not excuse the sort of blinkered design we are seeing right now. BMW (albeit with their, admittedly awful, new ‘giant kidney’ grille) and Skoda with some nice colour-coded designs, have at least been prepared to be daring and innovative and different rather than bland and boring. Unfortunately, the C40 grille design falls into the latter category.
The shame is that, otherwise, the C40 is a stylish and handsome beast which looks great from the side and rear viewpoints, but from the front it’s terrible with what I might describe as a tea-tray backing up the large Volvo badge. Some creative thinking is needed here fast.
