Driving report Volvo C40 Recharge diagonal Let down

The second electric vehicle from Volvo is the six centimeters flatter, coupé-like C 40, which is the offspring of the XC 40. We were using its previous entry-level model, the C 40 Electric Single, which retailed for at least 48,850 euros and featured front-wheel drive and an electric motor with 231 horsepower.

The 69 kWh lithium-ion battery in the floor has remained the same for the new model year, but Volvo has switched to rear-wheel drive and 238 horsepower, increasing the range by 40 kilometers to 476 kilometers. The 252 horsepower and 82 kWh battery version is a new one.

Even with two electric motors, the potent four-wheel drive version still produces 408 horsepower. The XC 40's electric variants are also impacted by all innovations.

Which body type you prefer depends on your personal preferences. Although the 4.44 meter long C 40 may have a more upscale appearance than its platform brother in the traditional SUV format, it is not more useful.

Although the crossover coupé has a similar wheelbase of 2.70 meters and offers a respectable amount of space as well, the sloping roof reduces the amount of headroom in the back. Only a slit serves as the rear window, and the view is not particularly impressive.

The standard reversing camera is more than welcome because the electrically folding headrests on the back seats don't really help much. After folding the steep rear seat backrests, the loading space in the trunk, which has a capacity of 413 to 1205, is completely flat.

It is convenient to have a 31-litre storage compartment under the front hood that can hold the bag containing the charging cables. 300-kilometer driving range The almost 2-ton electric crossover does not seem underpowered with the 231 horsepower permanent synchronous motor on the front axle.

Seven and a half seconds are needed to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h; after that, the fun is over. Only 180 km/h is the maximum speed for the new versions.

A typical electric car, the C 40 has a smooth and adequate amount of agility. We calculated an average power consumption of 22.3 kWh, including charging loss, with a range of 300 kilometers, compared to the standard of 18.4 kWh and roughly 430 kilometers, when the outside temperature was partly icy.

Up to 150 kW of power can be used for fast charging, and in the test, a battery that was halfway full resulted in a maximum flow of 84 kWh at a 100 kW column. Volvo had probably unintentionally provided the incorrect cable for alternating current with the test vehicle, which only supported single-phase charging.

This indicates that the charging process took an absurdly long eighteen hours and only a meager 3.6 kW of the available 11 kW of power trickled into the battery. Up to 50 kilometers of range are still left, at which point the battery charge level is only shown as a percentage in the instrument cluster.

On the upright 9-inch touchscreen in the center console, a specific app must be used to access the mileage. The central screen is used to navigate through sometimes-nested menus that control every aspect of the vehicle and entertainment system.

Here, you can also choose between free rolling with no discernible energy recovery and the incredibly comfortable single-pedal driving with maximum energy recovery. A direct button for swiftly changing between modes is what we would have preferred.

The Volvo C 40 is the brand's first vehicle without leather. With the exception of the hard plastic used for the decorative inserts, the atmosphere is Nordic and elegant, and the materials have a premium feel to them.

As is customary for Volvo, there is a wealth of safety gear, and the emergency brake assistant should be able to detect cyclists. more powerful creatures.

With the exception of the hard plastic used for the decorative inserts, the atmosphere is Nordic and elegant, and the materials have a premium feel to them.