Volvo XC40 Recharge long term test: report 6

The Volvo XC40 Recharge is fully electric and based on a former What Car? Car of the Year, but what's it like to live with? We're finding out...

Volvo XC40 Recharge long termer

The car Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin AWD Ultimate | Run by Claire Evans, consumer editor

Why it's here To see if the pricey pure electric version of the XC40 is as much of a leader in the family SUV segment as its conventionally fuelled siblings were when they first went on sale

Needs to Be a safe, fault-free commuter car part of the week, and cope with the demands of rural family life without running out of range at the weekends


Mileage 4959 List price £61,855 Target Price £61,855 Price as tested £61,855 Official range 270 miles Test range 203 miles


27 July 2023 – The good and the bad…

The good news is that the intermittent home charging failure I was experiencing with the Volvo XC40 Recharge has been fixed. It’s not the car or the charging system that are at fault – it turns out that Myenergi recently updated its firmware and that caused a lot of chargers to go offline repeatedly. 

I’d emailed Myenergi’s customer services department and they wrote back suggesting that I reboot the charger hub and change one of its settings. Since doing this, I’ve had no more nasty surprises of finding the car uncharged in the morning. 

Volvo XC40 Recharge long termer

The bad news is that the XC40 has sustained a large windscreen chip. Not wanting it to spread, I booked the car in at my local Halfords branch for a repair. 

Unfortunately their technician said it’s too large for them to fix. My next option is to try Autoglass, and if they can’t help I may have to replace the entire screen – which will likely involve a trip to my local dealer.

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